Interpersonal Life Stress and Inflammatory Reactivity as Prospective Predictors of Suicide Attempts in Adolescent Females

Adolescents' suicidal behavior frequently is preceded by interpersonal stress, but not all who experience distress attempt to end their lives. Recent theories have posited individual differences in stress-related inflammatory reactivity may be associated with psychopathology risk; this study examined inflammatory reactivity as a moderator of the prospective association between interpersonal stress and adolescents' suicidal behavior. Participants included 157 at-risk adolescent females (ages 12 to 16 years) and assessed individual differences in proinflammatory cytokine responses to a brief laboratory-based social stressor, both interpersonal and non-interpersonal life events, and suicidal behavior over an 18-month follow-up period. Measuring levels of the key proinflammatory cytokines interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) before and after an experimentally-induced social stressor, results revealed that blunted cytokine reactivity heightened the effect of high interpersonal stress exposure on risk for suicidal behaviors over the subsequent 9 months. Significant effects were not revealed for non-interpersonally themed stress. Finding highlight the urgent need for more research examining inflammation reactivity among adolescents.

Automated summary

Adolescents' suicidal behavior may be influenced by interpersonal stress, but individual differences in stress-related inflammatory reactivity may also play a role. This study examined how inflammatory reactivity moderated the association between interpersonal stress and suicidal behavior in at-risk adolescent females. The results showed that blunted cytokine reactivity intensified the effect of high interpersonal stress exposure on risk for suicidal behaviors over a 9-month period. More research is needed to further understand the role of inflammation reactivity in adolescents.