Recruiting

Emotional Health

Sponsor:

University of Pittsburgh

Code:

NCT07294079

Conditions

Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors

Social Connectedness

Responses to Social Threat

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: Female

Age: 12 - 17

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

Social threat

Study Details

Brief summary:

In recent years, adolescents are having higher rates of emotional health problems, such as suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs). The goal of this study is to learn about how teens' attention to different types of information relates to their real-world relationships and their emotional health. The investigators hope this study will help understand why some teens go on to have suicidal thoughts and behaviors and other teens do not. This information will help investigators learn how to improve emotional health in teens and reduce teen suicides.

Participants will be 100 female adolescents (ages 12-17) at high risk for STBs who will complete a series of assessments over the course of 6 months. Assessments include a baseline clinical interview, a visit to examine neural responses during a computer tasks, daily smartphone surveys about social experiences and social connectedness, and follow up questionnaires assessing STBs. Participants will also be asked to donate their text messages during the month that they complete smartphone surveys.

The research procedures will help investigators learn how adolescents react to different types of social situations. Investigators want to see if these reactions affect:

1. How connected adolescents feel to others in their daily lives
2. Adolescents' longer-term risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs)

Participants will be asked to:

  • Complete a 10-15 minute screening call to determine eligibility for the study
  • Complete one 3 hour virtual (or in-person) interview consisting of a clinical assessment and questionnaires.
  • Complete a 2.5-hour in person visit to complete computer tasks while record brain signals are recorded
  • Complete \~5 minute smartphone surveys three times a day for 30 days, asking about their daily social experiences and their mood and feelings.
  • Provide investigators with retrospective access to their text/direct messages from the month the participant was completing the smartphone surveys.
  • Complete online follow-up questionnaires at 3 and 6 months

Conditions

Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors

Social Connectedness

Responses to Social Threat

Study ID

NCT07294079

Start date

Jan 19, 2026

Status verified date

Dec, 2025

Completion date

Aug 30, 2030

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Jun 30, 2030

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: Female

Age: 12 - 17

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Between ages 12-17
  • Reported recurrent suicidal thoughts and behaviors and/or non-suicidal self-injury within the past year.
  • Medically and neurologically healthy, including no evidence of intellectual disability or serious cognitive impairment that would interfere with task performance
  • Assigned female at birth
  • Willing and able to give informed assent
  • Own an iPhone

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Unable to read or speak English or cognitive impairment preventing ability to complete assessments
  • Lifetime presence of a neurological or serious medical condition
  • Lifetime presence of a DSM-5 Autistic Spectrum Disorder
  • Current DSM-5 Psychotic Disorder or severe Substance Use Disorder
  • Uncorrected visual disturbance (<20/40 Snellen visual acuity)
  • Presence of head injury or congenital neurological anomalies (based on parent report).

Study Design

Enrollment

100 participants

Anticipated

Intervention Model

Single group

Primary purpose

Basic Science

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Adolescents (12-17) with past year STBs and/or NSSI.

Adolescent aged 12-17 with a past year suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs) and/or non-suicidal self-injury will complete an EEG task that measures their response to social threat.

Interventions

Social threat

EEG Visit:

Participants will be presented with pictures of female actors with emotional expressions. They will be asked to remember the identities of actors displaying happy, sad, angry, and neutral expressions and tested on their memory. This task examines participants' internal attention to facial cues of emotion while asking them to remember the identities of actors displaying emotional expressions.

EMA Over 30 days, participants will be asked to be report on their social experiences and suicidal thoughts and behaviors three times a day.

Primary outcome measure

  • Day-to-day social connectedness [ Time Frame: 1 month ]
  • Suicidal thoughts and behaviors [ Time Frame: 1, 2, 3, and 4 weeks after the intervention as well as three and six months later ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Kiera M James, Ph.D.

412-634-0004kij9@pitt.edu

Amber Pereira, M.A.

412-353-9329amp702@pitt.edu

Locations

University of Pittsburgh

Recruiting

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, 15213

Contacts

Kiera M James, Ph.D.

412-624-8992kij9@pitt.edu

Amber Pereira, M.A.

412-353-9329amp702@pitt.edu

More Information

Sponsor

University of Pittsburgh

Last update posted

Feb 12, 2026

Last verified

Dec, 2025

Keywords

  • Suicide Ideation
  • Social Threat
  • EEG
  • Adolescent
  • Teen

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by University of Pittsburgh on 2026-02-12.