Slower motor speed as a predictor of suicide attempts in high-risk youth

BACKGROUND: Predicting suicide risk remains a challenge. We examined whether neurocognitive performance on implicit associations toward suicide, motor speed, response inhibition, and executive functioning predicts suicide attempt and behavior in high-risk psychiatric patients. METHOD: = 54). Participants were followed for 12 months, with follow-up assessments at 3-, 6-, and 12-months. Neurocognitive tasks were administered at baseline. Clinical symptom measures, suicidality, and electronic health record data were collected at each timepoint. ANCOVA was used to compare groups on neurocognitive performance, and logistic and Cox regressions examined whether neurocognitive performance predicted future actual suicide attempt and suicidal behaviors. RESULTS: = 000) at the multivariate level. CONCLUSIONS: Slower motor speed predicts actual suicide attempt and may help identify psychiatric patients who are at high risk for suicidal behavior.