A comparative assessment of suicide risk for young people in youth detention

The aim of this study was to compare levels of agreement in the assessment of suicide risk by detention center staff procedures compared with those completed by a mental health clinician. Over a 6-month period, 64 young people (mean age 15.0 years; SD+/-1.3) assessed as being acutely suicidal were referred for a clinical mental health assessment and completion of the Adolescent Suicide Questionnaire (ASQ). Cohen's kappa statistic was used to determine inter-judgmental agreement between the detention center, a clinical assessment and ASQ scores. Weak levels of agreement existed in the assessment of suicide. We recommend further work in this area and broad discussion toward development of national guidelines to standardize the assessment of suicide risk for young people in youth detention.