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Identifying Adolescents at Highly Elevated Risk for Suicidal Behavior in the Emergency Department.
- Source :
-
Journal of Child & Adolescent Psychopharmacology . Mar2015, Vol. 25 Issue 2, p100-108. 9p. - Publication Year :
- 2015
-
Abstract
- Objective: The feasibility and concurrent validity of adolescent suicide risk screening in medical emergency departments (EDs) has been documented. The objectives of this short-term prospective study of adolescents who screened positive for suicide risk in the ED were: 1) to examine adolescents' rate of suicidal behavior during the 2 months following their ED visits and compare it with reported rates for psychiatric samples; and 2) to identify possible predictors of acute risk for suicidal behavior in this at-risk sample. Method: Participants were 81 adolescents, ages 14-19 years, seeking services for psychiatric and nonpsychiatric chief complaints, who screened positive for suicide risk because of recent suicidal ideation, a suicide attempt, and/or depression plus alcohol or substance misuse. A comprehensive assessment of suicidal behavior, using the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale, was conducted at baseline and 2 month follow-up. Results: Six adolescents (7.4%) reported a suicide attempt and 15 (18.5%) engaged in some type of suicidal behavior (actual, aborted, or interrupted suicide attempt; preparatory behavior) during the 2 months following their ED visit. These rates suggest that this screen identified a high-risk sample. Furthermore, adolescents who screened positive for suicidal ideation and/or attempt plus depression and alcohol/substance misuse were most likely to engage in future suicidal behavior (38.9%). Conclusions: In this study, use of a higher screen threshold (multiple suicide risk factors) showed promise for identifying highly elevated acute risk for suicidal behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 10445463
- Volume :
- 25
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Journal of Child & Adolescent Psychopharmacology
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 101603191
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1089/cap.2014.0049