Cognitive inhibition and attentional biases in the affective go/no-go performance of depressed, suicidal populations

•Cognitive inhibition was impaired in all suicide vulnerable subjects.•Suicide may be characterized by an affective processing bias for negative stimuli.•Cognitive deficits were worst among suicide ideators with an attempt history. Although cognitive inhibition deficits and attentional biases have been associated with suicidality, these findings have not been consistently reported across samples. The aim of the current study was to further investigate these variables among participants with differing suicidal risk. We compared affective go/no-go performance in 100 depressed individuals with both current suicidal ideation and a prior history of attempted suicide, 100 depressed individuals with current suicidal ideation, but no history of attempted suicide, 100 suicide attempters without current depression or suicidal ideation, and 100 healthy controls. Suicide ideators with a history of attempted suicide committed more commission errors during negative word trials than any other group. Additionally, suicide ideators with no attempt history made more commission errors than did controls and previous attempters. An interaction for group status and emotional word valence revealed that suicide ideators with a history of attempted suicide responded fastest to negative words and slowest to positive words. Suicide ideators without an attempt history displayed a similar, but less pronounced pattern. Whereas, controls and previous attempters responded more quickly to positively valenced words. The use of cross-sectional self-report data and inclusion of only female participants limits generalizability. Cognitive dysfunctions were apparent in all suicide vulnerable subjects, but significantly greater in suicide ideators with a history of attempted suicide. Suicidal ideation may be associated with a processing bias and inhibitory deficit for negative, mood-congruent information. These findings increase our knowledge of cognitive impairment in suicidality and may potentially help improve intervention strategies.