Do neurocognitive abilities distinguish suicide attempters from suicide ideators? A systematic review of an emerging research area

Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice

Volumn 25, Issue 1, 2018, Pages

  Saffer, Boaz Y ^a   Klonsky, E David ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA   (Canada)

Author keywords

neurocognitive abilities; neurocognitive functioning; suicide; suicide prevention; suicide risk

Indexed keywords

EID: 85041029400     PISSN: 09695893     EISSN: 14682850     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/cpsp.12227     Document Type: Review

References (64)

1. Abel, E. L., & Kruger, M. L. (2005). Educational attainment and suicide rates in the United States. Psychological Reports, 97(1), 25–28. https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.97.1.25-28
2. Becker, E. S., Strohbach, D., & Rinck, M. (1999). A specific attentional bias in suicide attempters. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 187(12), 730–735. https://doi.org/10.1097/00005053-199912000-00004
3. Borenstein, M., Hedges, L. V., Higgins, J. P. T., & Rothstein, H. R. (2016). Comprehensive meta-analysis (Version 3) [Computer software]. Englewood, NJ: Biostat.
4. Bredemeier, K., & Miller, I. W. (2015). Executive function and suicidality: A systematic qualitative review. Clinical Psychology Review, 40, 170–183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2015.06.005
5. Brower, M. C., & Price, B. H. (2001). Neuropsychiatry of frontal lobe dysfunction in violent and criminal behaviour: A critical review. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry, 71(6), 720–726. https://doi.org/10.1136/jnnp.71.6.720
6. Burton, C. Z., Vella, L., Weller, J. A., & Twamley, E. W. (2011). Differential effects of executive functioning on suicide attempts. Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 23(2), 173–179. https://doi.org/10.1176/jnp.23.2.jnp173
7. Cha, C. B., Najmi, S., Park, J. M., Finn, C. T., & Nock, M. K. (2010). Attentional bias toward suicide-related stimuli predicts suicidal behavior. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 119(3), 616–622. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019710
8. Clark, L., Dombrovski, A. Y., Siegle, G. J., Butters, M. A., Shollenberger, C. L., Sahakian, B. J., & Szanto, K. (2011). Impairment in risk-sensitive decision-making in older suicide attempters with depression. Psychology and Aging, 26(2), 321–330. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021646
9. Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
10. Craik, F. I. M., & Bialystok, E. (2006). Cognition through the lifespan: Mechanisms of change. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 10(3), 131–138. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2006.01.007
11. Delaney, C., McGrane, J., Cummings, E., Morris, D. W., Tropea, D., Gill, M., … Donohoe, G. (2012). Preserved cognitive function is associated with suicidal ideation and single suicide attempts in schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research, 140(1–3), 232–236. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.schres.2012.06.017
12. Dombrovski, A. Y., Clark, L., Siegle, G. J., Butters, M. A., Ichikawa, N., Sahakian, B. J., & Szanto, K. (2010). Reward/punishment reversal learning in older suicide attempters. American Journal of Psychiatry, 167(6), 699–707. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2009.09030407
13. Dombrovski, A. Y., Szanto, K., Siegle, G. J., Wallace, M. L., Forman, S. D., Sahakian, B. J., … Clark, L. A. (2011). Lethal forethought: Delayed reward discounting differentiates high- and low-lethality suicide attempts in old age. Biological Psychiatry, 70(2), 138–144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2010.12.025
14. Farebrother, R. W. (1999). Fitting linear relationships: A history of the calculus of observations (1st ed.). New York, NY: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-0545-6
15. Fergusson, D. M., Beautrais, A. L., & Horwood, L. J. (2003). Vulnerability and resiliency to suicidal behaviours in young people. Psychological Medicine, 33(1), 61–73. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291702006748
16. Franklin, J. C., Ribeiro, J. D., Fox, K. R., Bentley, K. H., Kleiman, E. M., Jaroszewski, A. C., … Nock, M. K. (2017). Risk factors for suicidal thoughts and behaviors: A meta-analysis of 50 years of research. Psychological Bulletin, 143, 187–232. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000084
17. Freidl, W., Schmidt, R., Stronegger, W. J., Fazekas, F., & Reinhart, B. (1996). Sociodemographic predictors and concurrent validity of the Mini Mental State Examination and the Mattis Dementia Rating Scale. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, 246(6), 317–319. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02189025
18. Freidl, W., Stronegger, W.-J., Berghold, A., Reinhart, B., Petrovic, K., & Schmidt, R. (2002). The agreement of the Mattis Dementia Rating Scale with the Mini-Mental State Examination. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 17(7), 685–686. https://doi.org//10.1002/gps.672
19. Gujral, S., Dombrovski, A. Y., Butters, M., Clark, L., Reynolds, C. F., & Szanto, K. (2014). Impaired executive function in contemplated and attempted suicide in late life. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 22(8), 811–819. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jagp.2013.01.025
20. Gujral, S., Ogbagaber, S., Dombrovski, A. Y., Butters, M. A., Karp, J. F., & Szanto, K. (2016). Course of cognitive impairment following attempted suicide in older adults. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 31(6), 592–600. https://doi.org/10.1002/gps.4365
21. Gunnell, D., Magnusson, P. K. E., & Rasmussen, F. (2005). Low intelligence test scores in 18 year old men and risk of suicide: Cohort study. BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.), 330(7484), 167. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.38310.473565.8F
22. Hedges, L. V. (1981). Distribution theory for Glass's estimator of effect size and related estimators. Journal of Educational Statistics, 6(2), 107–128. https://doi.org/10.2307/1164588
23. Jollant, F., Lawrence, N. S., Olié, E., Guillaume, S., & Courtet, P. (2011). The suicidal mind and brain: A review of neuropsychological and neuroimaging studies. World Journal of Biological Psychiatry, 12(5), 319–339. https://doi.org/10.3109/15622975.2011.556200
24. Kessler, R. C., Borges, G., & Walters, E. E. (1999). Prevalence of and risk factors for lifetime suicide attempts in the National Comorbidity Survey. Archives of General Psychiatry, 56(7), 617–626. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.56.7.617
25. Kim, C.-H., Jayathilake, K., & Meltzer, H. Y. (2003). Hopelessness, neurocognitive function, and insight in schizophrenia: Relationship to suicidal behavior. Schizophrenia Research, 60(1), 71–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0920-9964(02)00310-9
26. Klonsky, E. D., & May, A. M. (2014). Differentiating suicide attempters from suicide ideators: A critical frontier for suicidology research. Suicide & Life-Threatening Behavior, 44(1), 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1111/sltb.12068
27. Klonsky, E. D., May, A. M., & Saffer, B. Y. (2016). Suicide, suicide attempts, and suicidal ideation. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 12(1), 307–330. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-021815-093204
28. Kreutzer, J. S., DeLuca, J., & Caplan, B. (Eds.). (2011). Encyclopedia of clinical neuropsychology. New York, NY: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-79948-3
29. Lezak, M. D., Howieson, D. B., Bigler, E. D., & Tranel, D. (2012). Neuropsychological assessment (5th ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
30. Lichtenberger, E. O., & Kaufman, A. S. (2009). Essentials of WAIS-IV assessment (1st ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
31. May, A. M., & Klonsky, E. D. (2016). What distinguishes suicide attempters from suicide ideators? A meta-analysis of potential factors. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 23(1), 5–20. https://doi.org/10.1111/cpsp.12136
32. McDermott, L. M., & Ebmeier, K. P. (2009). A meta-analysis of depression severity and cognitive function. Journal of Affective Disorders, 119(1–3), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2009.04.022
33. Michaelis, B. H., Goldberg, J. F., Singer, T. M., Garno, J. L., Ernst, C. L., & Davis, G. P. (2003). Characteristics of first suicide attempts in single versus multiple suicide attempters with bipolar disorder. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 44(1), 15–20. https://doi.org/10.1053/comp.2003.50004
34. Miller, E. K., & Wallis, J. D. (2009). Executive function and higher-order cognition: Definition and neural substrates. In L. Squire (Ed.), Encyclopedia of neuroscience (Vol. 4, pp. 99–104). Oxford, UK: Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-008045046-9.00418-6
35. Minzenberg, M. J., Lesh, T. A., Niendam, T. A., Yoon, J. H., Cheng, Y., Rhoades, R. N., & Carter, C. S. (2015a). Control-related frontal-striatal function is associated with past suicidal ideation and behavior in patients with recent-onset psychotic major mood disorders. Journal of Affective Disorders, 188, 202–209. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2015.08.049
36. Minzenberg, M. J., Lesh, T., Niendam, T., Yoon, J. H., Cheng, Y., Rhoades, R., & Carter, C. S. (2015b). Conflict-related anterior cingulate functional connectivity is associated with past suicidal ideation and behavior in recent-onset schizophrenia. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 65, 95–101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2015.04.002
37. Minzenberg, M. J., Lesh, T., Niendam, T., Yoon, J. H., Cheng, Y., Rhoades, R. N., & Carter, C. S. (2015c). Frontal motor cortex activity during reactive control is associated with past suicidal behavior in recent-onset schizophrenia. Crisis, 36(5), 363–370. https://doi.org/10.1027/0227-5910/a000335
38. Morgan, A. B., & Lilienfeld, S. O. (2000). A meta-analytic review of the relation between antisocial behavior and neuropsychological measures of executive function. Clinical Psychology Review, 20(1), 113–136. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0272-7358(98)00096-8
39. Naifeh, J. A., Nock, M. K., Ursano, R. J., Vegella, P. L., Aliaga, P. A., Fullerton, C. S., … Army STARRS Collaborators. (2017). Neurocognitive function and suicide in U.S. Army soldiers. Suicide & Life-Threatening Behavior, 47(5), 589–602. https://doi.org/10.1111/sltb.12307
40. Nangle, J.-M., Clarke, S., Morris, D. W., Schwaiger, S., McGhee, K. A., Kenny, N., … Donohoe, G. (2006). Neurocognition and suicidal behaviour in an Irish population with major psychotic disorders. Schizophrenia Research, 85(1–3), 196–200. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.schres.2006.03.035
41. Nock, M. K., & Banaji, M. R. (2007). Prediction of suicide ideation and attempts among adolescents using a brief performance-based test. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 75(5), 707–715. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.75.5.707
42. Nock, M. K., Borges, G., Bromet, E. J., Alonso, J., Angermeyer, M., Beautrais, A., … Williams, D. (2008). Cross-national prevalence and risk factors for suicidal ideation, plans and attempts. British Journal of Psychiatry : The Journal of Mental Science, 192(2), 98–105. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.bp.107.040113
43. Nock, M. K., Park, J. M., Finn, C. T., Deliberto, T. L., Dour, H. J., & Banaji, M. R. (2010). Measuring the suicidal mind: Implicit cognition predicts suicidal behavior. Psychological Science, 21(4), 511–517. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797610364762
44. O'Carroll, P. W., Berman, A. L., Maris, R. W., Moscicki, E. K., Tanney, B. L., & Silverman, M. M. (1996). Beyond the Tower of Babel: A nomenclature for suicidology. Suicide & Life-Threatening Behavior, 26(3), 237–252. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1943-278X.1996.tb00609.x
45. Ogilvie, J. M., Stewart, A. L., Chan, R. C. K., & Shum, D. H. K. (2011). Neuropsychological measures of executive function and antisocial behavior: A meta-analysis. Criminology, 49(4), 1063–1107. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.2011.00252.x
46. Rajji, T. K., Miranda, D., Mulsant, B. H., Lotz, M., Houck, P., Zmuda, M. D., … Butters, M. A. (2009). The MMSE is not an adequate screening cognitive instrument in studies of late-life depression. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 43(4), 464–470. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2008.06.002
47. Richard-Devantoy, S., Berlim, M. T., & Jollant, F. (2014). A meta-analysis of neuropsychological markers of vulnerability to suicidal behavior in mood disorders. Psychological Medicine, 44(8), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291713002304
48. Richard-Devantoy, S., Berlim, M. T., & Jollant, F. (2015). Suicidal behaviour and memory: A systematic review and meta-analysis. World Journal of Biological Psychiatry, 16(8), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.3109/15622975.2014.925584
49. Richard-Devantoy, S., Szanto, K., Butters, M. A., Kalkus, J., & Dombrovski, A. Y. (2014). Cognitive inhibition in older high-lethality suicide attempters. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 30(3), 274–283. https://doi.org/10.1002/gps.4138
50. Rosenberg, H. J., Jankowski, M. K., Sengupta, A., Wolfe, R. S., Wolford, G. L., & Rosenberg, S. D. (2005). Single and multiple suicide attempts and associated health risk factors in New Hampshire adolescents. Suicide & Life-Threatening Behavior, 35(5), 547–557. https://doi.org/10.1521/suli.2005.35.5.547
51. Rosenthal, R. (1979). The file drawer problem and tolerance for null results. Psychological Bulletin, 86(3), 638–641. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.86.3.638
52. Rudd, M. D., Joiner, T. E., & Rajab, M. H. (1996). Relationships among suicide ideators, attempters, and multiple attempters in a young-adult sample. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 105(4), 541–550. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.105.4.541
53. Saffer, B. Y., & Klonsky, E. D. (2016). The relationship of self-reported executive functioning to suicide ideation and attempts: Findings from a large US-based online sample. Archives of Suicide Research, 21, 577–594. https://doi.org/10.1080/13811118.2016.1211042
54. Silverman, M. M., Berman, A. L., Sanddal, N. D., O'Carroll, P. W., & Joiner, T. E. (2007). Rebuilding the Tower of Babel: A revised nomenclature for the study of suicide and suicidal behaviors. Part 2: Suicide-related ideations, communications, and behaviors. Suicide & Life-Threatening Behavior, 37(3), 264–277. https://doi.org/10.1521/suli.2007.37.3.264
55. Strauss, E., Sherman, E. M. S., & Spreen, O. (2006). A compendium of neuropsychological tests: Administration, norms, and commentary (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
56. Szanto, K., Bruine de Bruin, W., Parker, A. M., Hallquist, M. N., Vanyukov, P. M., & Dombrovski, A. Y. (2015). Decision-making competence and attempted suicide. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 76(12), e1590–e1597. https://doi.org/10.4088/JCP.15m09778
57. Tarter, R. E., Kirisci, L., Mezzich, A., Cornelius, J. R., Pajer, K., Vanyukov, M., … Clark, D. (2003). Neurobehavioral disinhibition in childhood predicts early age at onset of substance use disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 160(6), 1078–1085. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.160.6.1078
58. ten Have, M., de Graaf, R., van Dorsselaer, S., Verdurmen, J., van ‘t Land, H., Vollebergh, W., & Beekman, A. (2009). Incidence and course of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts in the general population. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. Revue Canadienne de Psychiatrie, 54(12), 824–833. https://doi.org/10.1177/070674370905401205
59. Toplak, M. E., Sorge, G. B., Benoit, A., West, R. F., & Stanovich, K. E. (2010). Decision-making and cognitive abilities: A review of associations between Iowa Gambling Task performance, executive functions, and intelligence. Clinical Psychology Review, 30(5), 562–581. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2010.04.002
60. Toplak, M. E., West, R. F., & Stanovich, K. E. (2013). Practitioner review: Do performance-based measures and ratings of executive function assess the same construct? Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines, 54(2), 131–143. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12001
61. Voracek, M. (2004). National intelligence and suicide rate: An ecological study of 85 countries. Personality and Individual Differences, 37(3), 543–553. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2003.09.025
62. Voracek, M. (2006). Regional intelligence and suicide rate in Denmark. Psychological Reports, 98(3), 671–674. https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.98.3.671-674
63. Willcutt, E. G., Doyle, A. E., Nigg, J. T., Faraone, S. V., & Pennington, B. F. (2005). Validity of the executive function theory of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: A meta-analytic review. Biological Psychiatry, 57(11), 1336–1346. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2005.02.006
64. World Health Organization. (2008). The global burden of disease: 2004 update. Geneva: World Health Organization.