A 28-Day Ecological Momentary Assessment of Mental Health Among Psychiatric Outpatients With Suicidal Ideation

Abstract

Aims: Considering that suicide has remained a public health challenge in South Korea since 2009, the development of a real-time monitoring system for suicide risk is urgently needed, especially for those living in the community. The aims of this study were to explore the 28-day longitudinal pattern of suicidal ideation, compare momentary depression, anxiety and stress between different risk groups, and identify the association of suicidal ideation with momentary indicators in community-dwelling outpatients at risk of suicide.

Design: Observational and longitudinal investigation.

Methods: A total of 50 community-dwelling psychiatric outpatients were included herein. Those with a history of suicide attempts were classified into the high-risk group (n = 40, 80%), whereas the rest were classified into the low-risk group (n = 10, 20%). Real-time data on depression, anxiety, stress and suicidal ideation were collected from May 2021 to July 2023 based on ecological momentary assessment. Each participant provided reports at least three times a day for 4 weeks. A total of 3195 ecological momentary assessment responses were collected, among which 1345 with the highest mood intensity per day were selected for analysis. Panel mixed-effect linear regression models examined differences in ecological momentary assessment responses between high- and low-risk groups and elucidated the separate effects of depression, anxiety and stress on suicidal ideation in each risk group.

Results: Momentary depression, anxiety and stress were positively associated with momentary suicidal ideation in both risk groups, with these associations being higher among the high-risk group. In both risk groups, momentary suicidal ideation was more strongly associated with momentary depression than with momentary anxiety and stress.

Conclusions: Psychosocial stress indicators were associated with momentary suicidal ideation. Moreover, a strong association was observed between momentary depression and suicide attempts. Further research with larger samples should be conducted to evaluate whether depression interventions could reduce momentary suicidal ideation. No Patient or Public Contribution.

Keywords: anxiety; depression; ecological momentary assessment; stress; suicide.