Clinical and psychological characteristics of adolescents at risk of mood disorders compared with adolescents with suicidal behavior.

Cherise R Chin Fatt; Emine Rabia Ayvaci; Taryn L Mayes; Srividya Vasu; Thomas J Carmody; Jane A Foster; Graham J Emslie; Madhukar H Trivedi

doi:10.1016/j.jad.2026.122365

PubMed · 42585935

Clinical and psychological characteristics of adolescents at risk of mood disorders compared with adolescents with suicidal behavior.

Cherise R Chin Fatt·Emine Rabia Ayvaci·Taryn L Mayes·Srividya Vasu·Thomas J Carmody·Jane A Foster·Graham J Emslie·Madhukar H Trivedi

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Abstract

Suicide is one of the leading causes of death among adolescents, yet little is understood about the biopsychosocial factors related to suicidality. The demographic, clinical, and biological characteristics of adolescents with and without psychiatric histories may help inform mechanistic approaches to treatment of mood disorders and suicidality. The 'characterizing the inflammatory profile and suicidal behavior in adolescents' and 'RAD arm of the Texas Resilience Against Depression' studies aimed to characterize the clinical and biological profiles of youth with suicidal behavior and youth at risk for mood disorders, compared to healthy adolescents (n = 75 in each group). Here, we report the descriptive baseline clinical and psychological characteristics of adolescents at risk of mood disorders and those with suicidal behavior. The adolescents with suicidal behavior reported 3.53 lifetime suicidal events on average, predominantly reported moderate to very severe depression (34.7%, 24%, to 9.3%), moderate to severe anxiety (58.6%), low optimism (91.9%), and mild (39.2%) to moderate (28.4%) degree of hopelessness. The at-risk adolescents predominantly reported no depression (60%) or anxiety (68.9%), moderate optimism (50%), and a positive outlook (85.7%). Healthy adolescents predominantly reported no depression (88.3%) or anxiety (93.2%), moderate optimism (59%), and a positive outlook (87%). The adolescents with suicidal behavior and those at risk of mood disorders exhibited significantly higher irritability and borderline personality disorder features (uncorrected p = 0.02 to p < 0.001) and lower resilience compared to healthy adolescents. Ongoing investigations using the longitudinal clinical and biological data will help identify the immune biosignatures of suicidality in youth.

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Humans Adolescent Female Mood Disorders Male Suicide, Attempted Suicidal Ideation Risk Factors Optimism Suicide Resilience, Psychological Anxiety Depression Adolescents Mood disorder risk Resilience Suicidal behavior T-RAD Journal Article

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Cherise R Chin Fatt, Emine Rabia Ayvaci, Taryn L Mayes, Srividya Vasu, Thomas J Carmody, Jane A Foster, Graham J Emslie, Madhukar H Trivedi. 2026-08-12. Clinical and psychological characteristics of adolescents at risk of mood disorders compared with adolescents with suicidal behavior.. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2026.122365

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Journal Article resource Adolescent subject Anxiety subject Depression subject Female subject Humans subject Journal Article subject Male subject

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