May Research Roundup 2026: Recently Published Findings From AFSP-Funded Studies

The Research Roundup is a regular update of recently published findings in suicide prevention research. AFSP-funded studies included in this roundup examined how:

• Suicidal thoughts and behaviors in autistic individuals can emerge early and evolve over time
• Sleeping less than usual increases depression and emotional reactivity in suicidal youth
• Suicide risk remains elevated among sexual and gender minority young adults, and
• Brain connectivity patterns were linked to suicidal ideation and hospitalization length

Researcher: Carly McMorris, Ph.D.
Institution: University of Calgary (Canada)
Grant Type: 2020 Early Career Researcher Grant — $89,357
Grant Title: Suicidality in Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Interaction Between Biological Vulnerabilities and Cognitive Dysfunction

Autistic individuals are known to face elevated risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors, and much of the research for this population has focused on specific age. This leaves important gaps in understanding how these experiences unfold over time, including when suicidal thoughts first emerge, how they change across development, and how they relate to patterns like nonsuicidal self-injury. A more complete lifespan perspective can help move beyond one-time assessments of risk and toward a more continuous understanding of support needs, especially in recognizing that experiences of distress may begin earlier and evolve in ways that are not always captured in traditional clinical frameworks.

With her AFSP-funded grant, Dr. Carly McMorris examined suicidal thoughts and behaviors and nonsuicidal self-injury in a multinational sample of 245 autistic youth and adults without intellectual disability recruited with flyers across the United States, Canada, and Australia. Using the lifetime version of the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS), Dr. McMorris interviewed participants and found that many individuals reported lifetime experiences of suicidal ideation (87.8%) and nonsuicidal self-injury (56.3%), with nearly one-third reporting at least one suicide attempt. Among those who had attempted, repeated attempts were relatively common. She also found that suicidal thoughts tended to become more severe and longer-lasting with age, with adults reporting more persistent experiences than younger participants. Early emergence was also notable, with some individuals reporting suicidal behavior in childhood and the average first attempt occurring in adolescence. Differences by sex were minimal across most outcomes.

Citation: Schwartzman, J. M., McMorris, C. A., Brown, C. M., Trollor, J. N., Uljarević, M., Stokes, M. A., Williams, Z. J., & Hedley, D. (2025). Elevated Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors and Nonsuicidal Self-Injury in Autistic Youth and Adults: A Multinational Study. Autism in adulthood, 10.1089/aut.2024.0225. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1089/aut.2024.0225

Researcher: Tina Goldstein, Ph.D.
Institution: University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Grant Type: 2017 Standard Research Grant — $99,354
Grant Title: A Prospective Study of Sleep Health and Suicidal Behavior

Sleep is closely tied to emotional functioning, and disruptions in sleep are common among adolescents experiencing depression and suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB). There is growing evidence that sleep problems may play a role in maintaining or worsening mental health over time. In particular, shorter sleep may increase sensitivity to daily stressors, especially in interpersonal contexts, which are especially prominent during adolescence. Understanding how nightly changes in sleep influence next-day mood and reactivity may help clarify one way in which suicide risk is sustained in youth with suicidal thoughts and behavior and provide a helpful focus area for treatment.

Dr. Tina R. Goldstein used her AFSP-funded grant to study 198 adolescents and young adults receiving intensive treatment for depression and suicide risk, collecting daily sleep, mood, and interpersonal data over an average of two months. Participants wore actigraphy devices to measure sleep and completed daily surveys assessing depression severity and emotional responses to interpersonal events. Dr. Goldstein found that sleeping less than usual was associated with greater next-day depression, particularly among those with more severe depression. Shorter sleep was also linked to increased negative emotional reactivity to interpersonal stressors, such as conflict or feeling excluded. This heightened reactivity helped explain the connection between sleep loss and worsening depression. This same relationship between sleep and emotional reactivity has been linked to increases in suicidal ideation, suggesting that sleep loss may contribute to suicide risk, in part by amplifying negative emotional responses to daily experiences. Over the course of treatment, self-reported sleep increased and depression improved, but objective sleep measures did not show the same change, pointing to the complexity of people’s perceptions of their own sleep experience, versus how it is measured. Overall, the findings suggest that it’s important to measure sleep, both objectively and experientially.

Citation: Wescott, D. L., Goldstein, T. R., Hijazi, J., Rice, D., Rode, N., Poling, K., Zelazny, J., Brent, D., & Franzen, P. L. (2026). Sleeping Less Than Usual is Associated With Greater Daily Depression and Higher Reactivity to Negative Interpersonal Events Among Suicidal Adolescents. The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine, S1054-139X(26)00065-0. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2026.02.009

Researchers: Lisa Fedina, Ph.D., MSW
Institution: University of Michigan
Grant Type: 2020 Early Career Research Grant — $90,000
Grant Title: Profiles of Poly-Victimization and Suicide Risk among Young Adults

There has been growing recognition that risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors is not evenly distributed across populations. Sexual and gender minority (SGM) young adults, in particular, have consistently been shown to experience higher rates of suicidal thoughts and behaviors. At the same time, suicide risk is shaped by a broader set of factors — including income, education, employment, and geographic context — that are not always considered together. Understanding how these individual and contextual factors interact can help clarify where and among whom risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB) is most concentrated, and inform more targeted and responsive prevention efforts.

With her AFSP-funded grant, Dr. Lisa Fedina analyzed data from a nationally representative sample from the AmeriSpeak survey panel of 1,077 U.S. young adults ages 18–29 to examine patterns of suicidal ideation, suicidal behavior, suicide attempts, and self-harm. She found that nearly 30% of participants reported suicidal ideation in the past year, with clear differences across demographic, geographic, and sexual orientation and gender factors. 

Transgender and nonbinary young adults reported the highest rates of suicide-related outcomes, including 64% reporting suicidal ideation and 24% reporting a suicide attempt. Sexual minority young adults also had significantly higher rates of STB, with over half reporting suicidal ideation and more than twice the likelihood of suicide attempts compared to heterosexual peers, even after accounting for other factors. Rates of STB also varied across demographic and regional lines: young adults with lower income and lower education levels, as well as those who were unemployed, reported higher rates of suicidal behavior and self-harm. Regionally, suicidal ideation was highest in the Northeast and lowest in the Midwest and South, even after adjusting for other variables. Differences also emerged across racial and ethnic groups, with multiracial young adults reporting some of the highest rates of suicidal behavior and attempts. 

Overall, the findings show that suicide risk among young adults is unevenly distributed, with SGM identity remaining a consistent and independent predictor of elevated risk across outcomes.

Citation: Fedina, L., Secaira, S., Koshay, M., DeVylder, J., & King, C. (2026). Prevalence and sociodemographic correlates of suicide-related outcomes in a nationally representative sample of young adults. International Journal of LGBTQ+ Youth Studies, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/29968992.2025.2607671

Researcher: Ramiro Salas, Ph.D.
Institution: Baylor College of Medicine  
Grant Type: 2015 Standard Research Grant  $90,000
Grant Title: The Role of the Reward System in Suicidal Ideation and Behavior

Psychiatric hospitalizations are often shaped by diagnosis and self-reported symptoms, but these approaches do not always capture the underlying patterns that influence recovery or forecast how long someone will be hospitalized. Suicidal ideation is one area where this gap becomes especially important. While it is a central factor in determining level of care, it is often treated as a single, uniform experience. In reality, two individuals may both report frequent or severe suicidal thoughts, yet differ in ways that matter for treatment (e.g., whether those thoughts are longstanding or more recent; how much they interfere with daily functioning; or how they relate to broader difficulties like emotion regulation or disability in work, social, or cognitive domains). These differences can shape how someone responds to care and how long they may need to remain in a hospital setting, but they are not always visible through diagnosis alone. 

With their AFSP-funded grant, Dr. Ramiro Salas and his team studied 455 adult psychiatric inpatients, combining clinical assessments, which included detailed measures of suicidal ideation, with brain imaging data to test for groups of patients based on shared patterns rather than diagnosis alone. The imaging focused on structural connectivity, or how different regions of the brain are physically connected through white matter pathways that support communication across systems involved in emotion, thinking, and behavior. 

The team identified 23 distinct patient profiles, each associated with different lengths of hospital stay. Of these 23 groups, only two showed similarly high levels of suicidal ideation but differed in their underlying brain connectivity: one linked to the cingulum–cingulate gyrus, which plays a role in emotional processing and regulation, and another to the corticospinal tract, a pathway involved in movement and the coordination of voluntary action. Both groups were associated with longer hospitalizations, suggesting greater clinical complexity. The findings also showed that functional disability (i.e., how much symptoms disrupt daily life) was a strong predictor of extended stay, highlighting how suicidal ideation may be better understood within broader patterns that shape treatment needs and recovery.

Citation: Toranzo, J. M., Zwir, I., Poblete, G. F., Fernández, F. J. A., Teixeira, A. L., Salas, R., & de Erausquin, G. A. (2025). Structural Connectivity and Clinical Features Allow Classification and Outcome Predictions in Psychiatric Inpatients. Neuropsychiatry (London), 15(2), 2, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/399624498_Structural_Connectivity_and_Clinical_Features_Allow_Classification_and_Outcome_Predictions_in_Psychiatric_Inpatients

Learn more about the AFSP research grants featured in this monthly roundup, as well as others, here.