Cited by 41Suicide and Self-Harm StudiesNeural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesAnxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes

The association between suicidal behavior, attentional control, and frontal asymmetry.

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Thompson, Catherine, Ong, Elsie Li Chen·2018·Frontiers in Psychiatry

Abstract

It can be difficult to identify those at risk of suicide because suicidal thoughts are often internalized and not shared with others. Yet to prevent suicide attempts it is crucial to identify suicidal thoughts and actions at an early stage. Past studies have suggested that deficits in attentional control are associated with suicide, with the argument that individuals are unable to inhibit negative thoughts and direct resources away from negative information. The current study aimed to investigate the association of suicidal behavior with neurological and behavioral markers, measuring attentional bias and inhibition in two Stroop tasks. Fifty-four participants responded to the color of color words in a standard Stroop task and the color of positive, negative, and neutral words in an emotional Stroop task. Electroencephalographic (EEG) activity was recorded from frontal areas during each task and at resting. Participants were separated into a low-risk and high-risk group according to their self-reported suicidal behavior. Participants in the high-risk group showed slower response times in the color Stroop and reduced accuracy to incongruent trials, but faster response times in the emotional Stroop task. Response times to the word “suicide” were significantly slower for the high-risk group. This indicates an attentional bias towards specific negative stimuli and difficulties inhibiting information for those with high levels of suicidal behavior. In the emotional Stroop task the high-risk group showed reduced activity in leftward frontal areas, suggesting limitations in the ability to regulate emotional processing via the left frontal regions. The findings support the argument that deficits in attentional control are related to suicidal behavior. The research also suggests that under certain conditions frontal asymmetry may be associated with suicidal behavior.

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  • Individuals at high risk of suicidal behavior experience difficulties in controlling the focus of their attention, and attempters demonstrate reduced cognitive inhibition compared to ideators.

    “In addition, individuals at high risk of suicidal behavior experience difficulties in controlling the focus of their attention, and attempters demonstrate reduced cognitive inhibition compared to ideators (Richard-Devantoy et al., 2015; Thompson and Ong, 2018).”

    From The Psychological Pathway to Suicide Attempts: A Strategy of Control Without Awareness (2021) · cites this paper as Thompson and Ong, 2018

    The Discussion reports that the high-risk group had difficulty inhibiting irrelevant information, supporting the attentional-control claim. The Introduction reports slower responses on inhibition trials for high-lethality suicide attempters than for people with suicidal ideation, but this finding concerned depressed older adults; the paper does not establish the comparison for attempters generally. Page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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  • Reduced attentional control, including the ability to inhibit responses, would be interpreted from a PCT perspective as a reduced ability to sustain or shift awareness between goals.

    “Firstly, reduced attentional control, including the ability to inhibit responses (Richard-Devantoy et al., 2015; Thompson and Ong, 2018), would be interpreted from a PCT perspective as a reduced ability to sustain or shift awareness between goals (Mansell et al., 2012).”

    From The Psychological Pathway to Suicide Attempts: A Strategy of Control Without Awareness (2021) · cites this paper as Thompson and Ong, 2018

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Authors
Thompson, C., & Ong, E. L. C.
Affiliations
University of Salford (GB)
Corresponding author
Thompson, Catherine
Venue
Frontiers in Psychiatry
Published
2018-03-14
Volume
9
Pages
79-79
ISSN
1664-0640 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2792620897
Cited by
41
References
89
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 1
FWCI
4.99
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Frontiers in Psychiatry (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • University of Salford Institutional Repository (University of Salford) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
Keywords
suicidal behavior, attentional control, attentional bias, emotional Stroop task, frontal alpha asymmetry, suicide risk, emotional processing, response inhibition, suicide prevention

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