Suicidal Ideation, Cognitive Control, and Sleep in Veterans in a Residential Treatment Facility: A Pilot Study
Date
2025-04-01
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior
Abstract
Introduction
Sleep disorder symptoms are associated with suicidal ideation, and wakefulness in the middle of the night is associated with an increased risk for suicide, potentially due to deficits in cognitive control. Little is known about daily-level associations among sleep and suicide or about the role of cognitive control in these associations.
Methods
Veterans (n = 32) with past-month suicidal ideation in a residential treatment unit were assessed for 28 days using the suicide visual analogue scale (S-VAS) to assess suicidal urges, a daily sleep diary, and self-reported cognitive control.
Results
Wakefulness in the middle of the night (1–4 a.m.) was associated with the most severe suicidal ideation. Nocturnal wakefulness and sleep quality were each associated with next-day suicidal ideation intensity. Self-reported cognitive control deficits were associated with more intense suicidal ideation. The association between nocturnal wakefulness and suicidal ideation was partially accounted for by self-reported impulsive behavior (7% of variance).
Conclusions
Veterans reported the highest suicidal ideation in the middle of the night. These findings suggest the importance of assessing sleep, suicidal ideation, and cognitive control among veterans and the need to consider nocturnal wakefulness as an indicator of heightened risk for suicide among veterans.
Description
This article was originally published in Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/sltb.70011.
© 2025 The Author(s). Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Association of Suicidology.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Keywords
cognitive control, sleep disorders, suicide, veterans
Citation
Brown, L.A., Lynch, K.G., Gehrman, P., Mayinja, L., Farabaugh, D. and Bredemeier, K. (2025), Suicidal Ideation, Cognitive Control, and Sleep in Veterans in a Residential Treatment Facility: A Pilot Study. Suicide Life Threat Behav, 55: e70011. https://doi.org/10.1111/sltb.70011