Resilience buffers the association between psychotic-like experiences and suicide risk: a prospective study from a non-clinical sample

• Published in: BMC psychiatry 2024-01, Vol.24 (1), p.32-32, Article 32
• Main Authors: Karska, Julia, Rejek, Maksymilian, Misiak, Błażej
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anxiety; Anxiety disorders; Cannabis; Child; Children; College students; Early intervention; Hallucinogens; Humans; Mental Disorders; Prospective Studies; Psychopathology; Psychosis; Psychotic-like experiences; Questionnaires; Resilience; Resilience, Psychological; Risk factors; Sex crimes; Sexual abuse; Suicidal behavior; Suicidal ideation; Suicide; Suicides & suicide attempts; Trauma; Young Adult; Young adults
• ISSN: 1471-244X; 1471-244X
• DOI: 10.1186/s12888-024-05491-y

Several studies have reported that psychotic-like experiences are associated with low levels of resilience and increased suicide risk. However, it remains unknown as to whether resilience mediates or moderates the association between psychotic-like experiences and suicide risk. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to explore the moderating and mediating effect of resilience in the association between psychotic-like experiences and suicide risk. A total of 1100 non-clinical, young adults (aged 18 - 35 years) with a negative history of psychiatric treatment were enrolled. Participants were recruited by the snowball sampling methodology through advertisements posted in the online platform. They were followed-up for about 7 months. Variables of interest were recorded using self-reports. Psychopathological assessment was conducted using the Prodromal Questionnaire-16, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, the Traumatic Experience Checklist, the Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse Questionnaire, the Cannabis Problems Questionnaire, the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale-10, and the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview. The STROBE statement guidelines were followed. The moderation analysis revealed that higher levels of psychotic-like experiences and related distress at baseline were associated with significantly higher suicide risk at the follow-up after adjustment for baseline sociodemographic characteristics, depressive and anxiety symptoms, a history of childhood trauma, and problematic cannabis use. The interaction between follow-up resilience and distress related to baseline psychotic-like experiences was significantly and negatively associated with suicide risk at the follow-up. Specifically, the correlation between the level of distress related to psychotic-like experiences and suicide risk was significant and positive only in participants with lower levels of resilience. This interaction did not reach statistical significance for the baseline level of psychotic-like experiences. No significant mediating effect of the follow-up resilience level in the association between baseline psychotic-like experiences and the follow-up suicide risk was found. Findings from the present study indicate that resilience might protect against suicide risk in people with psychotic-like experiences. These findings could be applied in the formulation of early intervention strategies aimed at mitigating the risk of suicide. Future stud