Sarah Brown
check Recruiting a graduate student for Fall of 2025
Research Interests
The Advancing Suicide Prevention and Intervention through Research and Engagement (ASPIRE) laboratory at Florida State University aims to investigate processes involved in the development of suicidal ideation and the transition to suicidal behaviors, with the goal of making meaningful, positive changes in the lives of those at risk of suicide.
We use an experimental therapeutics approach focused on three primary objectives: 1) improve our understanding and theoretical models of suicide; 2) identify modifiable mechanisms (neurophysiological, affective, cognitive, behavioral) for suicide ideation and suicidal behaviors, and 3) develop targeted interventions that can be implemented at critical points to prevent suicidal behavior among high-risk individuals.
We are also interested in exploring the connection between social pain and suicide risk, investigating suicide risk in high-risk and understudied populations, enhancing methods for measuring, assessing, and predicting short-term suicide risk, and understanding the temporal and individual dynamics of suicide risk.
Lab Description
We use a multi-method approach that integrates temporally sensitive methodology to examine short-term and state-dependent fluctuations in suicide ideation and suicide capability mechanisms in controlled laboratory settings and ecologically valid real-world situations.
Our studies use a combination of
1) virtual reality tasks, affective and suicide-related imagery tasks, social interaction tasks, decision-making tasks etc.
2) neurophysiology (electrocardiography, electrodermal activity, electroencephalography)
3) ecological momentary assessment
4) clinical interviews and self-reports
Mitchell, S. M., Brown, S. L., Moscardini, E. H., LeDuc, M., & Tucker, R. P. (2023). A psychometric evaluation of the Interpersonal Hopelessness Scale among individuals with elevated suicide risk. Assessment, 10731911231161766.
Brown, S. L., Marshall, A. J., Mitchell, S. M., Roush, J. F., Mumma, G. H., Jahn, D. R., Ribeiro, J. D., Joiner, T. E., & Cukrowicz, K. C. (2021). A network analysis of suicide ideation and thwarted interpersonal needs. Clinical Psychological Science. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/21677026211000670
Victor, S E., Brown, S. L., Scott, L. N. (2021). Prospective and concurrent affective dynamics in self-injurious thoughts and behaviors: An examination in young adult women. Behavior Therapy, 52, 1158-1170.
Mitchell, S. M., Brown, S. L., Roush, J. F., Tucker, R. P., Cukrowicz, K. C., & Joiner, T. E. (2020). The Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire: Statistical considerations for improved clinical application. Assessment. Advanced online publication. doi:10.1177/1073191118824660
Brown, S. L., Mitchell, S. M., Roush, J. F., LaRosa, N. L., & Cukrowicz, K. C. (2019). Rejection sensitivity and suicide ideation among psychiatric inpatients: An integration of two theoretical models. Psychiatry Research, 272, 54-60. doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2018.12.009
Brown, S. L., Roush, J. F., Marshall, A. J., Mitchell, S. M., & Cukrowicz, K. C. (2018). A psychometric investigation of the Painful and Provocative Events Scale: Moving forward. Archives of Suicide Research, 22, 628-643. doi:10.1080/13811118.2017.1392914
Full list of publications: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=JKx6ohYAAAAJ&hl=en