Neurobehavioral pathways linking socioeconomic status hardship to suicide risk versus resilience in young adolescents: the roles of sleep health and default mode network connectivity.

Socioeconomic hardship increases the risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors in adolescents, partly through shorter sleep duration. A study of 11,878 youth from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study found that higher levels of hardship predicted more suicidal ideation and attempts. Shorter sleep acted as a pathway linking hardship to suicidal thoughts, but this indirect effect was weaker in adolescents with higher coherence in the brain's Default Mode Network. The findings suggest that sleep health is a mechanism connecting economic adversity to suicide risk, and that DMN coherence may serve as a neuroprotective factor supporting resilience.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Socioeconomic hardship (SES-H) is a known risk factor for adolescent suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB). This study examined sleep health as a pathway linking SES-H to suicide risk and evaluated the moderating role of Default Mode Network (DMN) coherence. Data came from three waves of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study (N = 11,878). Increased SES-H predicted greater suicidal ideation and attempts. Shorter sleep duration mediated the association with ideation, while high DMN coherence attenuated the indirect effect of SES-H on ideation via sleep. Findings highlight sleep health as a mechanism connecting socioeconomic adversity to suicidality and suggest DMN coherence may function as a neuroprotective factor for youth resilience.