Girls with higher levels of suicidal ideation experienced less parental reciprocity of eye-contact and positive facial affect during conflictual interactions: A pilot study

Abstract

Although ample research links social factors and suicidality, there remains a gap in understanding how distinct processes within social communication relate to suicidality. We demonstrate how reciprocity of eye-gaze and facial expressions of happiness differ during parent-adolescent conflict based on adolescents' future suicidal ideation (SI). Facial affect analyses were based on 103 girls (ages 11-13; M = 12.28; 75% White) and their parents. Eye-gaze analyses were conducted in subset of these dyads (N = 70). Participants completed a conflict discussion during which gaze to their partners' eyes was assessed using mobile eye-tracking glasses and facial affect was coded using FaceReader Observer XT. Adolescents' SI was assessed 12-months later. Actor-partner interdependence models tested whether participants' gaze and affect predicted their own and their partners' gaze and affect one second later and if these intra and interpersonal dynamics differed based on adolescents' future levels of SI. Girls from dyads with less parental reciprocity of eye-gaze and happiness reported higher levels of SI 12-months later. During early adolescence, girls whose parents reciprocate their eye-contact or positive affect less during conflict may be at heightened risk for SI. If replicated, social communication could provide a promising intervention target to reduce suicidality prospectively.

Keywords: actor–partner interdependence modeling; eye-gaze; facial affect; parent-adolescent interaction; suicide.

Figure 1.. Multilevel Structural Equation Models

Statistical models representing Actor–Partner Interdependence Models 1 and 2 (APIM) and including the decomposition of observed variables into between- (subscript _i) and within-person (subscript _t) variance. Between-person variance reflects individual differences in the observed variables, and the within-person variance reflects epoch-to-epoch departures from each individual’s mean on these variables. Single-headed arrows indicate regression paths; double-headed arrows indicate correlations. Filled dots represent random effects. Cross-level interaction: changes of the association strength of the actor- or partner-effects as a function of SI was assessed 12-months later. Horizontal lines denote actor-effects, diagonal lines denote partner-effects. Solid grey lines denote key hypotheses tested, dashed lines denote additionally tested moderation paths. Models 1 and 2 were repeated with facial affect data.