Cognitive effort avoidance in veterans with suicide attempt histories

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Cognitive Psychology

Background:

• Suicide attempts (SA) are rising, particularly among veterans.
• Identifying cognitive markers distinguishing suicide ideators who attempt suicide is crucial.
• Cognitive theories link SA to negative interpretations and effort aversion.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare cognitive effort discounting and evidence-gathering in veterans with and without a history of SA.
• To investigate potential neurobehavioral markers for SA risk.

Main Methods:

• Compared cognitive effort discounting and evidence-gathering in a beads task.
• Included veterans with (SAHx+) and without (SAHx-) a history of SA receiving care for mood disorders.
• Assessed self-reported cognitive problems and working memory (WM) demand.

Main Results:

• Veterans with SA history (SAHx+) reported more cognitive problems.
• SAHx+ participants avoided choices requiring increased WM effort for monetary reward.
• No significant differences were found in evidence-gathering or depressed mood between groups.

Conclusions:

• Aversion to expending cognitive effort may be a potential marker for SA risk in veterans.
• Cognitive difficulties, including effort aversion, warrant further investigation in SA.
• These findings highlight the importance of cognitive factors in understanding suicide attempts.