Associations Between Impulsivity, Adverse Childhood Experiences, and Suicide Ideation in a Sample of At-Risk Teen Girls

Suicidal behaviors are significant mental health and public health concerns that are preventable by targeted prevention and intervention efforts. It is especially important to focus research and clinical work on adolescents, as suicide is the second leading cause of death in this age group (Heron, 2017). The present study examines the impact of risk factors of adverse childhood experiences, impulsivity, and delinquency on suicide ideation in a sample of 122 at-risk female adolescents who were enrolled in a randomized trial of a skills coaching intervention. Depressive symptoms, intervention condition, and age were controlled for in cross-sectional, longitudinal, and mediation analyses. Adverse childhood experiences and depressive symptoms were found to have a significant direct effect on both concurrent and longitudinal suicide ideation. Discussion of these results provides implications for future research and intervention efforts.2022-02-2