Friendships typically protect youth against the development of emotional problems and may be especially important sources of support for youth who experience psychological distress. Troubling, however, is research documenting the phenomenon of contagion, or the process by which friends of suicidal, self-injurious, or depressed youth are at markedly increased risk for developing these problems themselves. While having distressed peers confers risk for increases in adolescents? distress over time, no studies have closely examined contagion of suicide and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) within adolescent social relationships, and very few studies have examined depression contagion. Further, little is known about what factors may predict susceptibility and resilience to contagion, and mechanisms of contagion are likewise understudied. The proposed multi-method, longitudinal study examines contagion of suicidality, NSSI, and depression in a large sample of rural, at-risk adolescents in grades 6-12. The research proposes new and novel susceptibility markers for examination including overactive empathy, media exposure (e.g., 13 Reasons Why, Netflix, 2017), and parasocial interaction (e.g., one-sided, emotional relationship with media figures). The study also examines co-rumination (Rose, 2002) as a hypothesized mechanism for contagion effects across all of these conditions. Self-report, peer-report, observational, and event-sampling data will be collected over multiple time points during one school year. The use of multiple methods will provide detailed, temporal information about the processes involved in contagion of suicidality, NSSI, and depression aid in identifying the characteristics of those most susceptible.
While the available literature provides key clues to understanding peer influence in adolescents? social relationships, there is limited empirical data on the contagion of suicidality, non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), and depression, all pervasive public health issues associated with premature death and significant emotional and economic burdens for adolescents and their families. These issues are particularly troublesome in rural areas, where suicide rates are double the rates for urban youth, and youth suicide by firearm rates are three times the national average. By investigating contagion processes and seeking to identify risk and resilience markers in a rural sample, the proposed research has the potential to significantly impact the development of new prevention and intervention strategies that successfully leverage adolescents? peer context and to encourage additional research on promoting resilience to contagion.
