KINGSTON, R.I. \u2014 Nov. 17, 2025 \u2014 Decades of research have highlighted the strong connection between Alcohol Use Disorder and suicidal behavior, determining that the likelihood of a suicide attempt is as much as 37 times higher when an individual is under the influence of alcohol. What that research hasn\u2019t done is shed light on the precise timing of suicidal risk in relation to alcohol use, and what it is about alcohol use that increases that risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
äçÐÄvlogÃâ·ÑBÕ¾ psychology Professor Nicole Weiss, along with Brown University Professor Heather Schatten, aims to address those limitations in their latest study funded by a $3.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMost people who drink don\u2019t experience an escalation in suicidal ideation, and don\u2019t engage in suicidal behavior,\u201d Weiss said. \u201cBut there\u2019s a certain subgroup of people who do, so we are trying to understand who those people are, what the factors are that are driving their risk for suicide, and the timing of those processes\u2026 how long after a person starts drinking, or what about a person\u2019s drinking really increases that risk to know when to intervene and what to target.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Weiss will recruit 300 people with an alcohol use disorder preparing to be discharged from residential substance use treatment facilities in Rhode Island. Study participants will wear an alcohol sensor called the BACtrack Skyn, a wearable sensor that measures alcohol content in sweat. While participants wear the device for 30 days, it will record how much alcohol they consume, the rate of alcohol absorption, and their intoxication level, measured by recording their peak transdermal alcohol content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the same time, participants will receive brief surveys on an app multiple times throughout each day to record their experiences in that moment, including their cravings for alcohol, stress level, emotions, and, especially, any instances of suicidal thoughts or actions. That information will be combined with data from the BACtrack Skyn to determine how long after they begin drinking an individual experiences any escalation in suicidal ideation or behavior, and at what volume of alcohol consumed, pace of drinking, and level of intoxication the risk occurs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe expect it\u2019s going to be variable with different people. For some, alcohol might drive suicidal ideation and behavior; for others it might not,\u201d Weiss said. \u201cFor some others, it might be both\u2014alcohol use drives suicidal ideation or behavior, and suicidal ideation and behavior drive alcohol use. It will allow us to see the unique patterns for each person. One of the big implications is uncovering the specific processes\u2026 how and when alcohol influences suicidal ideation and behavior, and the psychological mechanisms that might underly this association, to inform personalized interventions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those mechanisms include psychological distress, impulsivity, and cognitive constriction\u2014tunnel vision thinking in which people focus on their current suffering\u2014all of which are exacerbated by alcohol use. Drinking can intensify feelings of hopelessness and anxiety, and impair the ability to modulate stress, solve problems, and regulate emotion, all of which are known triggers for suicidal ideation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMost people think of alcohol as functioning to escape pain or stress. But we also know that alcohol increases negative emotions,\u201d Weiss said. \u201cUsing alcohol can lead to people feeling trapped or overwhelmed by their emotional experiences, which could lead them to experience suicidal ideation and subsequently engage in suicidal behavior. Alcohol also suppresses the ability to resist acting on impulses and leads individuals to hyper focus on their negative emotions. We are testing these psychological mechanisms in real time to inform clinical interventions to be implemented during the transitional period following residential treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The wearable alcohol sensors offer researchers more specific information about the point at which alcohol use and suicidal ideation intersect. In this study, Weiss and her team aim to create algorithms of risk so individuals and health care providers know when treatment may be needed to mitigate that risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHypothetically, one day, data from these sensors will be used to provide feedback to individuals and their health care providers,\u201d Weiss said. \u201cOften, individuals and providers aren\u2019t aware of the risk until it\u2019s too late. So perhaps there\u2019s this opportunity to increase awareness that risk is on the verge, giving them an opportunity to intervene.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KINGSTON, R.I. \u2014 Nov. 17, 2025 \u2014 Decades of research have highlighted the strong connection between Alcohol Use Disorder and suicidal behavior, determining that the likelihood of a suicide attempt is as much as 37 times higher when an individual is under the influence of alcohol. What that research hasn\u2019t done is shed light on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":105325,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4,1905],"class_list":["post-105324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","tag-college-of-health-sciences","tag-research"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105324"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105324\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":105341,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105324\/revisions\/105341"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}