Emotional motives of the "destructive ties" group in suicidal behavior in adolescents

Introduction. This article presents an empirical study of the basic emotions of fear and sadness, which are part of the "destructive bonds" group and reflect the challenging life situations of adolescents: conflictual living conditions in family and school; and difficulties in academic activities. The study's innovation lies in its uncovering the unconscious aspect of the mutual influence of basic emotions and adolescent living conditions.
Materials and methods. The study methods included the developed and standardized "Color Associations" test, observation, and interviews with adolescents. The study was conducted over the past three years; the sample consisted of 175 adolescents aged 13–17 who had attempted suicide and engaged in conversations and correspondence on social media about suicide. Data on the adolescents' emotional attitudes toward various aspects of their social environment and academic activities were verified using Fisher's exact test.
Results. The nature of the "destructive bonds" emotions was found to reflect adolescents' conflictual relationships with their social environment and academic activities. A state of emotional fear and sadness is accompanied by a "clouded consciousness," which is reflected in unintentional suicidal behavior, which in practice takes on a mechanistic and automated nature. Assessing a teenager's emotional attitude toward their social environment and academic activities provides information about the difficult life situation that triggers the experience of "connection-destroying" emotions.
Discussion and conclusions. The diagnostic procedure of the "Color Associations" test reveals cause-and-effect relationships between variables: emotions and life conditions, existing at the unconscious level. The study results highlight the importance of studying basic emotions in crisis psychological counseling and diagnostics of adolescents to predict suicidal risk.

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