@article {25079,
	title = {Deep neural network models detect suicide risk from textual Facebook postings},
	journal = {Nature Scientific Reports},
	volume = {10},
	year = {2020},
	pages = {16685},
	abstract = {Detection of suicide risk is a highly prioritized, yet complicated task. Five decades of research have produced predictions slightly better than chance (AUCs = 0.56 {\textendash} 0.58). In this study, Artificial Neural Network (ANN) models were constructed to predict suicide risk from everyday language of social media users. The dataset included 83,292 postings authored by 1,002 authenticated Facebook users, alongside valid psychosocial information about the users. Using Deep Contextualized Word Embeddings for text representation, two models were constructed: A Single Task Model (STM), to predict suicide risk from Facebook postings directly (Facebook texts {\textrightarrow} suicide) and a Multi-Task Model (MTM), which included hierarchical, multilayered sets of theory-driven risk factors (Facebook texts {\textrightarrow} personality traits {\textrightarrow} psychosocial risks {\textrightarrow} psychiatric disorders {\textrightarrow} suicide). Compared with the STM predictions (.621 \&lt;= AUC \&lt;= .629), the MTM produced significantly improved prediction accuracy (.697 \&lt;= AUC \&lt;= .746), with substantially larger effect sizes (.729 \&lt;= d \&lt;= .936). Subsequent content analyses suggested that predictions did not rely on explicit suicide-related themes, but on a range of text features. The findings suggest that machine learning based analyses of everyday social media activity can improve suicide risk predictions and contribute to the development of practical detection tools.\&nbsp;Detection of suicide risk is a highly prioritized, yet complicated task. Five decades of research have produced predictions slightly better than chance (AUCs = 0.56 {\textendash} 0.58). In this study, Artificial Neural Network (ANN) models were constructed to predict suicide risk from everyday language of social media users. The dataset included 83,292 postings authored by 1,002 authenticated Facebook users, alongside clinically valid psychosocial information about the users. Using Deep Contextualized Word Embeddings for text representation, two models were constructed: A Single Task Model (STM), to predict suicide risk from Facebook postings directly (Facebook texts {\textrightarrow} suicide) and a Multi-Task Model (MTM), which included hierarchical, multilayered sets of theory-driven risk factors (Facebook texts {\textrightarrow} personality traits {\textrightarrow} psychosocial risks {\textrightarrow} psychiatric disorders {\textrightarrow} suicide). Compared with the STM predictions (.606 621 \&lt;= AUC \&lt;= .608629), the MTM produced significantly improved prediction accuracy (.690 697 \&lt;= AUC \&lt;= .759746), with substantially larger effect sizes (.701 729 \&lt;= d \&lt;= .994936). Subsequent content analyses suggested that predictions did not rely on explicit suicide-related themes, but on a range of text features. The findings suggest that machine learning based analyses of everyday social media activity can improve suicide risk predictions and contribute to the development of practical detection tools.\&nbsp;},
	url = {https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-73917-0},
	author = {Ophir, Y. and R. Tikochinski and Asterhan, C. S. C. and I. Sisso and Reichart, R.}
}
