(PS9-23) Physiological Markers of Suicide Risk: Autonomic Responses During Future-Oriented Thinking in Adolescents

Abstract Text:

Introduction: Suicidal adolescents exhibit altered physiological regulation, yet little is known about how these differences manifest during future-oriented cognition, a process critical to adaptive goalsetting and emotion regulation. Prior research suggests that suicidal adolescents show blunted physiological arousal and autonomic dysregulation (Koenig et al., 2016; Nguyen et al., 2025), while others suggest greater arousal (Kang et al., 2020). This study extends prior work by examining how adolescents with and without a history of suicidal ideation (SI) differ in heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (HRV), and electrodermal activity (EDA) during a Future Life Oriented (FLO) cognition task. We hypothesized that suicidal adolescents (vs. non-suicidal adolescents) will exhibit less physiological arousal and adaptability during a FLO cognition task.

Methods: 44 adolescents (SI = 30, Control = 14; Mean Age = 16.4, SD = 2.06) completed the Experimental Recombination Task (ERT), a task requiring them to generate and describe future autobiographical events and designed to elicit FLO processes. Physiological data were collected using E4 Empatica wearable devices during the approximately 12-minute ERT task. HR, HRV, and EDA were analyzed using linear mixed-effects models (LMMs) to examine group differences across time. Given normality violations, HR and HRV were log-transformed. Pairwise comparisons and effect sizes were calculated using estimated marginal means and R² values.

Results: Results revealed significant group differences across all physiological measures. As hypothesized, suicidal adolescents exhibited lower HR during the ERT task (β= -0.012, p < .001), suggesting blunted physiological arousal. Similarly, suicidal adolescents displayed significantly lower HRV (β = -0.0019, p < .001), indicating reduced autonomic adaptability. EDA findings were exploratory; a significant interaction effect found suicidal adolescents had a lower decline in EDA comparatively to the control group (β = 0.0043, p < .001), suggesting difficulties in maintenance of an aroused state.

Conclusions: Findings suggest that suicidal adolescents experience dysregulated physiological arousal during future-oriented cognition, marked by blunted HR and HRV, with mixed patterns in EDA. These results provide insight into the psychophysiological underpinnings of suicidality, supporting the role of autonomic dysfunction in future thinking processes. Future research should explore whether these physiological markers can inform risk assessments or interventions targeting future-oriented thinking in suicidal youth.