Mobile Assessment for the Prediction of Suicide (MAPS) Study
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Dates: 9/1/2018-7/31/2023
Suicide had been the second leading cause of death for adolescents, and each year about 16% of teens had seriously thought about suicide and 8% had attempted it. Even with these troubling numbers, researchers still knew little about what caused sudden, short‑term risk. Because of this, improving the ability to predict suicidal thoughts and behaviors in the near future had been very important.
Past predictors, such as demographic and clinical factors, had not been strong. New studies had suggested that fast increases in emotional distress, problems with friends or peers, and sleep troubles might be helpful warning signs, but earlier research had relied too much on self‑reports and had not tracked changes closely over time. This study used new ways to monitor teens in real time by taking advantage of how they naturally used their smartphones. Researchers followed 200 high‑risk teens ages 13–18 from clinics, including recent suicide attempters, teens with suicidal thoughts but no attempt history, and a group with no history of suicidal thoughts or behavior.
A tool called Effortless Assessment of Risk States (EARS) had been used to passively track emotional distress, social problems, and sleep patterns through smartphone data. First, the study compared groups during a two‑week period to see whether phone‑based measures showed differences better than self‑reports. Next, it tested whether these phone‑based risk factors improved short‑term prediction of suicide‑related outcomes over six months. Finally, the study used machine‑learning methods to build models that predicted which teens belonged to which group and who might be at risk. By using smartphone technology, the project aimed to improve short‑term prediction of suicidal thoughts and behaviors and help provide tools that could support clinicians and patients.
Selected Primary Outcome Papers:
- PMC - Intensive Longitudinal Assessment of Adolescents to Predict Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors
- PMC - Using Smartphone GPS Data to Detect the Risk of Adolescent Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors
- PubMed - Momentary stress and social context among adolescents at risk for suicide: An experience sampling study