Interpersonal difficulties and suicidal ideation in young people at clinical high-risk for psychosis and help-seeking clinical controls.

Young people at clinical high-risk for psychosis (CHRp) experience higher rates of suicidal ideation than same-aged peers with other mental health concerns. One reason for this may be that the relations between known risk factors for suicide (e.g., interpersonal difficulties) and experiences of suicidal ideation may differ for CHRp young people than for those with other mental health concerns. This study examined relations between interpersonal difficulties (interpersonal trauma history, global social functioning, social anhedonia severity) and presence of suicidal ideation among CHRp young people (n = 263) and help-seeking controls (HSC; n = 203) with a DSM-5 diagnosis. CHRp young people (n = 118; 45 %) reported significantly higher rates of suicidal ideation than HSCs (n = 51; 25 %). CHRp young people also reported greater interpersonal trauma, t(436.49) = 3.28, p = .001, poorer global social functioning, t(447.00) = -5.81, p < .001, and greater social anhedonia severity, t(460.14) = 5.43, p < .001, than HSCs. In logistic regression models, greater interpersonal trauma, OR = 1.20, 95 % CI [1.01, 1.42], p = .04, and poorer global social functioning, OR = 0.70, 95 % CI [0.52, 0.90], p = .008, but not social anhedonia, OR = 1.26, 95 % CI [0.94, 1.69], p = .11, were each associated with presence of suicidal ideation. Diagnostic group did not moderate the associations between any interpersonal difficulty and suicidal ideation (ORs 0.94-1.17, p's 0.35-0.84). Together, findings suggest that greater rates of suicidal ideation in CHRp young people relative to HSCs may be attributable to transdiagnostic interpersonal mechanisms.