Suicidal Behavior in Adolescents and Executive Functions (SAFE)

April 1, 2026 updated by: University Hospital, Angers

Suicide is a major public health concern, particularly among young people. In France, around 400 adolescents die by suicide every year, and suicide attempts are most frequent during adolescence. This stage of life is marked by profound emotional, social, and biological changes, which can increase vulnerability to stress and psychological distress.

Current research shows that suicidal behaviors do not result from a single cause. Instead, they emerge from a complex interaction between individual vulnerabilities and stressful life events. Among these vulnerabilities, cognitive functioning-and more specifically executive functions-has attracted growing scientific interest.

Executive functions refer to a set of high-level mental abilities that allow individuals to regulate their thoughts, emotions, and actions. They include skills such as controlling impulses, adapting to new situations, planning ahead, and holding information in mind. These abilities are essential for everyday life, school learning, social interactions, and emotional regulation. Importantly, the brain networks supporting executive functions continue to develop throughout adolescence, making them particularly sensitive to psychological and environmental challenges.

In adults, several studies have shown that people with suicidal ideation or a history of suicide attempts often present difficulties in executive functioning. Such difficulties may contribute to poorer emotional regulation, increased rumination, reduced impulse control, and impaired decision-making during periods of crisis. However, in adolescents, research in this area remains limited, often involving small samples or focusing on only one or two cognitive abilities.

The main aim of this study is therefore to better understand the relationship between executive functions and suicidal behaviors in adolescents, using a comprehensive assessment tool specifically designed and validated for children and teenagers. This tool allows for a global evaluation of key executive components, including inhibition, working memory, cognitive flexibility, and planning.

A secondary objective of the study is to compare executive functioning between adolescents who experience suicidal thoughts and those who have attempted suicide. Some findings in adults suggest that these two groups may show different cognitive profiles, but this distinction has rarely been explored in younger populations.

In addition, cognitive difficulties may not only appear during testing but also have a real-life impact, affecting academic performance, emotional regulation, and social relationships. For this reason, the study also examines how executive difficulties affect everyday functioning, by collecting information from adolescents themselves, their parents, and the school environment.

Finally, suicidal behaviors in adolescents are influenced by many other factors, particularly psychiatric disorders such as depression, anxiety, and the consequences of traumatic experiences. Depression, in particular, is one of the strongest risk factors for suicide. This study therefore also aims to explore how these psychiatric conditions may influence executive functioning and shape the relationship between cognitive difficulties and suicidal behavior.

By improving our understanding of these mechanisms, this research seeks to support the development of more effective prevention strategies and better-targeted clinical interventions for adolescents at risk.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

100

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Adolescents aged 11 to 16 years (inclusive), hospitalized at Angers University Hospital in the Child or Adolescent Surgery and Medicine units for the management of suicidal behaviors (suicide attempts and/or suicidal ideation)
  • Covered by the national health insurance system
  • Assent of the adolescent
  • Written informed consent provided by the legal guardians to participate in the study

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Complete inability to complete the questionnaires (Non-communicative patient; Severe comprehension or communication disorders, Limited or no understanding of the French language)
  • Participation in another interventional study that modifies clinical care
  • Presence of a neurological condition likely to significantly impair cognitive functioning (e.g., epilepsy, brain tumor, neurometabolic disease)
  • Previous inclusion in this study during an earlier hospitalization

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Screening
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Other: Adolescents with suicidal behaviors
Other: Neuropsychological Tests and Psychiatric Tests
WISC V Children Executive Functions Battery BRIEF 2 C-SSRS SNAP IV CDI R-CMAS

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Prevalence of executive functioning impairment in adolescents presenting suicidal behaviors, ranging from suicidal ideation to suicide attempts
Time Frame: Baseline
Scores obtained on the composite indices of the FEE battery will be used to determine the presence of executive function impairment. Adolescents scoring at or above the 90th percentile for their age and sex on at least one of the four domains assessed by the FEE battery will be considered as presenting executive function impairment.
Baseline

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University Hospital, Angers

Collaborators

University of Angers
Pays de la Loire Laboratory of Psychology (LPPL)
Région Pays de la Loire

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

May 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

September 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

October 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 12, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 18, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

February 20, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 7, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 1, 2026

Last Verified

April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 49RC25_0479
  • ANSM (Other Identifier: 2024-A02435-42)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

Data will be shared upon reasonable request. Only de-identified data will be shared. Any data collected during the study may be shared. The protocol will be shared initially. Other documents may be shared at a later date upon request (e.g., the CRF to allow a collaborator to select the data they wish to access). The recipients of the data will be researchers. The data will be available for any purpose deemed relevant by the study investigator, based on a protocol provided by the requester, after verification of the obtaining of regulatory approvals, including the favorable opinion of an ethics committee.

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Subscribe