Conference Agenda

Non-affective psychosis is associated with profound psychosocial and functional impairment, as well as markedly elevated risk of suicide, self-harm, and reduced life expectancy. In recent years, there has been increasing interest in the role of dissociative phenomena in the aetiology of non-affective psychosis, as well as their influence on outcomes. Symptoms of dissociation are common in non-affective psychosis, and dissociative experiences are known to be elevated in this population. Growing transdiagnostic evidence further indicates that dissociation is associated with suicidal thoughts and behaviours; therefore, the present review aimed to explore the nature, severity, and prevalence of dissociation in non-affective psychosis and their relationship with suicide-related outcomes. To achieve this, six databases were searched from inception and systematically screened. Eligibility was established against ICD/DSM criteria or service-defined categorisation including first-episode psychosis, brief limited intermittent psychotic symptoms, and at-risk mental states. One hundred and thirty-four studies were included in the final data; 126 utilised a validated measure of severity; 32 reported on prevalence; and 12 reported on the role of dissociation in suicidality. Meta-analyses were conducted for measures with three or more independent datasets. Dissociative Experiences Scale scores were consistent with moderately elevated dissociation; Cambridge Depersonalization Scale scores were also raised relative to community norms; and Examination of Anomalous Self Experience scale scores indicated high and clinically relevant loads of self-disturbance. Nonetheless, high heterogeneity (I² > 85%) reflected wide symptom variation. Prevalence findings were more mixed, with heterogeneity in measurement approaches and varied thresholds complicating interpretation. Data on suicide-related outcomes demonstrated dissociation often co-occurs with suicidality, but associations were inconsistent and frequently non-significant. Overall, these findings highlight the necessity of assessing levels of dissociation in individuals with non-affective psychosis, and where necessary, intervening clinically. Further, mechanistically focused research is needed to clarify whether dissociation independently contributes to suicide-related outcomes in non-affective psychosis.

Introduction: Most recent theories of suicide view increased pain tolerance as a key risk factor for suicidal behavior. In recent work, we integrated these models with meta-analyses on pain hypersensitivity in suicide, neuropsychoanalytic studies on hypo- and hyperarousal responses to early relational trauma, and evidence of dissociative vs. hypervigilant subtypes in PTSD. Hence, we hypothesized the existence of two profiles in suicide risk: a dissociative vs. a pain hypersensitive profile. This study aims to examine dissociative and non-dissociative responses, as well as changes in pain perception, face to interpersonal stress (i.e. social exclusion) and their relationships with suicide-related history, trait dissociation and trauma.

Methods: University students are being recruited to participate in a VR version of the Cyberball Game, a validated social exclusion paradigm. Inclusion and exclusion conditions are presented on different days to each participant, in counterbalanced order. On the first day, students complete a self-report adaptation of the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS), the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES-II), and the Traumatic Experiences Checklist (TEC). Before and after each condition, state dissociation, heat-pain threshold and subjective heat-pain ratings are assessed, respectively, through the Cambridge Depersonalization Scale – state version (CDS-S) and a computer-controlled thermal stimulator.

Results (expected): Individuals with suicide-related history (i.e. recent SI, or lifetime SP, NSSI or SA) are expected to exhibit greater increases in state dissociation following the exclusion condition compared with individuals without such a history. Higher DES and TEC scores are expected to associate with greater increases in state dissociation after exclusion. Patterns of hypo- or hypersensitivity to pain in response to social exclusion will also be explored in relation to suicide-related history, dissociative traits and traumatic experiences.

Conclusions: Findings could inform person-centered approaches to suicide-risk prevention by accounting for individual differences in dissociative and pain perception patterns of response face to interpersonal stress.

Background: Latvia has one of the highest suicide rates in the European Union, yet there is limited research on mental health risk factors associated with suicidal behavior in the Latvian population. This study aims to identify and quantify behavioral and psychosocial predictors of suicide risk using validated instruments partially based on UK Biobank methodology.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional online survey of Latvian adults aged 18 years and older The study employs validated questionnaires including PHQ-9 for depression, GAD-7 for anxiety, and adapted UK Biobank items for comprehensive mental health assessment. Primary outcomes include suicidal ideation and suicide attempt history. Hierarchical logistic regression and machine learning approaches will be used to identify independent risk factors and develop predictive models.

Results: A total of 960 participants completed the survey (mean age = 41.1 years, SD = 12.5). The sample included 819 women (85.3%), 136 men (14.2%), and 5 individuals identifying as other (0.5%). Suicidal behavior was reported by 614 participants (64.9%). Among its components, suicidal ideation was present in 584 respondents (61.6%), self-injury in 202 (21.4%), and suicide attempts in 74 (7.8%). The PHQ-9 score showed the strongest correlation with suicidal behavior (r = 0.37). Each additional PHQ-9 point increased the odds of suicidal behavior by 16% (OR = 1.159, p < 0.001), while each reported traumatic event increased the odds by 13% (OR = 1.133, p = 0.001).

Conclusions: When performing statistical analysis, an overview of univariate and multivariate analysis the PHQ-9 is a strong predictor of suicidal behavior. Having experienced a traumatic event is an independent risk factor, however, the risk increases with the number of traumatic events.

Introduction: Trauma and suicide are closely interconnected: traumatic experiences can increase the likelihood of suicide, while suicide-related distress, behaviour, and bereavement can themselves be traumatic. Rethinking suicide prevention requires understanding how trauma-informed approaches can be embedded across prevention strategies. To map the current evidence base, our team conducted a scoping review of trauma-informed approaches to suicide prevention across all levels (universal, selective, indicated, postvention), and for all experiences of suicidality (distress, ideation, behaviours, attempts, deaths), populations, and settings.

Methods: We conducted a systematic search of seven academic databases, screening results in duplicate. Data were extracted according to pre-determined categories, and results synthesised narratively, with key data presented visually.

Results: From an initial 886 results, our review identified 27 relevant publications: one systematic review, two mixed-methods studies, eight qualitative studies, five quantitative studies, and 11 discussion papers. Most were published in the past five years and originated from the US. The evidence focused predominantly on children and young people at the selective and indicated levels, with few studies related to postvention and none on universal prevention. Outcome measures varied, with lived experience reflections being most common. Studies also explored psychological, suicide-related, and physiological outcomes, as well as program evaluation.

Conclusion: Our review demonstrates that trauma-informed suicide prevention is an emerging, but underdeveloped, field. Key gaps include universal strategies, adult populations, workforce implications, and lived-experience-led research. Integrating trauma-informed approaches that explicitly recognise and respond to trauma, prioritise safety, choice, and collaboration, and actively prevent retraumatisation, has the potential to improve suicide prevention. Future research, policy, and practice should focus on how we can embed these approaches across suicide prevention strategies.

Background: Understanding the biological background of suicide and identifying biomarkers is one of the biggest challenges in suicide research. Similarly important is to understand how different environmental influences, including early life stress and recent stress contribute to suicide risk, especially via different biological pathways. One recently emerging potential candidate is inflammation, which is increasingly known to be associated both with early and current environmental stress, increased low-grade inflammation, and also suicidal behaviour. The aim of the present study was to identify the genetic overlap between various inflammatory and autoimmune conditions and suicidal behaviour, also considering the moderating effect of current and early life stress, using a polygenic risk score approach.

Methods: We used summary statistics from published large GWAS-s for 6 common autoimmune and inflammatory disorders, calculated polygenic risk scores using LDPred2, and in an independent target sample, looked at how these PRS-es predict current suicidal ideation and previous suicide attempts on their own as well as in interaction with early childhood traumas and recent stressful life events using linear and logistic regression models.

Results: Only PRS calculated for metabolic syndrome predicted previous suicide attempts (β=0.3269, p=0.0161) or current suicidal ideation attempts (β=0.2577, p=0.0308). However, in case of current suicidal ideation, when considering the interaction effect of current stress, PRS for autoimmune thyroid disorder showed a significant effect (β=0.9728, p=0.0488), and when considering the interacting effect of early childhood traumas, highly significant effects for PRS-s calculated for SLE attempts (β=0.414, p=0.0003) and atrophic gastritis attempts (β=0.2289, p=0.0125) emerged.

Conclusion: Our results suggest that somatic disorders associated with chronic immunological activation or inflammation are associated with suicidal phenotypes, especially in the presence of exposure to current or early life stress. Further studies are needed to establish if the effect characterises suicidal behaviour in general or there are specific inflammatory biotypes of suicide.

Objective: Bullying-victimization is a well-established risk factor for suicidal behaviors among youth, yet most research focuses on non-fatal outcomes. Consequently, little is known about the role of bullying-victimization in the processes leading to suicide. This scoping review synthesizes evidence on the prevalence and role of bullying-victimization among youth who died by suicide.

Methods: Following PRISMA guidelines, peer-reviewed empirical studies were included if they examined bullying-victimization during childhood or adolescence (≤21 years) among individuals who died by suicide. Searches were conducted in seven databases in October 2023 and 2025. Of 4,233 screened records, 32 studies met inclusion criteria after full-text review and quality appraisal (QUIPS and CASP). Included studies comprised record-based (60%), qualitative (28%), longitudinal cohort (6%), and online ethnography (6%) designs.

Results: Among studies that systematically assessed bullying-victimization, 30.3% reported its presence in the lives of deceased youth. In studies where bullying-victimization was recorded only when mentioned by bereaved informants (i.e. not systematically examined), the percentage was much lower (5.6%). Record based studies demonstrate bullying-victimization was more often registered for females, younger adolescents, and LGBTQ+ youth who died by suicide. Longitudinal cohort studies show that bullying-victimization is associated with increased suicide risk after controlling for individual and familial characteristics.

Qualitative studies described the path to suicide following bullying-victimization as one in which a persistent stressor (bullying-victimization) contributed to feelings of sadness, entrapment, and lack of belongingness. Online ethnographies highlighted hostile audience responses during live-streamed suicides as forms of cyberbullying that reinforced humiliation and hopelessness.

Conclusions: This review indicates that bullying-victimization is an important yet understudied and underestimated suicide risk factor among youth. Across methodologies, bullying-victimization functioned as a chronic stressor amplifying psychological mechanisms central to established suicide theories, with longitudinal evidence suggesting enduring effects. Systematic assessment of bullying-victimization within suicide investigations is needed to better understand its prevalence and mechanisms.