The Suicide Prevention and Risk Behaviors Lab at Western Kentucky University is broadly focused on youth suicide prevention. More specifically, we study risk and protective factors for suicide in the adolescent and emerging adult age groups, including the overlap of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicide. Our current work includes longitudinal studies that examine how certain characteristics of NSSI may lead to future suicidal thoughts and behaviors. These studies are investigating the role of emotion regulation deficits in adolescents and how those deficits impact the relationship between NSSI and suicide, and how characteristics of NSSI such as self-identification, habituation, and attentional bias, may impact future suicidal thoughts and behaviors in emerging adults. Our lab also studies related risk factors for self-harm behavior in these age groups, including eating disorder behaviors, sleep quality, and substance use. Our website provides information on current projects, recent publications and presentations, and current members. Thanks for visiting our website!
Some of the links on this page may require additional software to view.
