PROJECT SUMMARY
The need for more robust evidence to predict risk and prevent suicide among Black male youth is critical in
light of the rapidly rising rates of suicidal behaviors in this population. As the third leading cause of death in
Black male youth aged 12-18, the timely identification of suicide risk is a critical public health priority. Yet, there
is a fundamental gap in suicide research focused on Black male populations in these transitional
developmental stages due to limited investigations of race-related (e.g. discrimination) stress as a unique
antecedent to suicide and its potentially synergistic effect on known risk factors. Digital phenotyping platforms
offers an innovative opportunity to collect real-time data associated with race-related stressors by integrating
active (e.g. ecological momentary assessment-EMA) and passive (e.g. GPS, accelerometer, etc.) data using
smartphones. Refined digital phenotyping platforms may provide more granular insights towards Black male
youth's proximal suicide risk by assessing time-varying factors as they naturally occur. Thus, the proposed
project aligns well with the recent NIMH Notice of Special Interest related to identifying risk and preventing
Black youth suicide (NOT-MH-20-055). Specifically, the candidate plans to address the following specific aims:
(1) Modify a culturally-adapted digital phenotyping protocol for appropriate use among Black male youth; (2)
Conduct a pilot digital phenotyping study among a re-contacted and newly recruited psychiatric sample of
Black male youth to determine feasibility and acceptability of real-time assessments of suicidology in the study
population. The proposed K01 project enhances the candidate's prior research in mental health disparities and
health services research among Black male adolescents, and will uniquely position the candidate to enhance
suicide risk detection methodologies using real-time and culturally-responsive digital strategies. To achieve
these career objectives, the applicant will work with a highly skilled mentorship team (Drs. Holly Wilcox, Roland
Thorpe, Sean Joe, Johannes Thrul, and Hadi Kharrazi) and scientific advisory members (Drs. Leticia Ryan,
David Williams, and Benjamin Lê Cook) to build four areas of expertise relevant to this research agenda: (1)
intensive longitudinal design and analysis, (2) suicide risk identification, (3) engaged and culturally-responsive
recruitment and retention strategies, and (4) translation of research for suitability in youth populations. The K01
award will increase the applicants' capabilities as an independent researcher to develop and test fully-powered
real-time smartphone-based approaches to identify and mitigate suicide risk in this population.