Suicide is the second leading cause of death in young people, second only to accidental death. While many factors play a role in suicidal behaviors, depression in particular is known to increase suicide risk up to 15-fold. There is emerging evidence that depressive symptoms may have worse impacts on later mental health at certain “sensitive periods” in development. Sensitive periods are times in development where the impact of experiences, both positive and negative, are particularly strong and long-lasting. However, this has not been investigated in the context of depression and suicide.
We want to investigate whether there are certain times in childhood and adolescence when depression has a greater impact on suicidal behaviors in early adulthood. In doing so, we also want to assess the role of DNAm in the relationship between time-specific depressive symptoms and suicidal behaviors to determine whether epigenetic changes explain the relationship between adolescent depression and suicidal behaviors in adulthood.
This project is funded by an MQ Foundation Fellows Award, awarded to Dr. Lussier in Fall 2023.
The Lussier Lab 