Screening for suicidal ideation in children and adolescents: methodological considerations

Area of Science:

• Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• Mental Health Research
• Developmental Psychology

Background:

• Suicidal ideation and attempts in youth show variable prevalence based on reporting source, recall period, and assessment method.
• Methodological considerations are crucial for accurate suicidality screening in children and adolescents.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine methodological issues in administering suicidal screening measures to children and adolescents.
• To investigate how reporter (child vs. mother), retrospection, and assessment type influence youth suicidality prevalence estimates.

Main Methods:

• Study involved 192 siblings from families with depressed mothers (risk group) and mothers without psychiatric diagnoses (comparison group).
• Suicidality screening utilized structured diagnostic interviews with youth, youth self-reports, and maternal reports across multiple child age points.
• Assessments were conducted longitudinally as children aged.

Main Results:

• Mothers reported lower youth suicidality prevalence than youth did; discrepancies were more common in the risk group.
• Lifetime retrospection yielded lower prevalence than 3-year interval assessments.
• Self-report prevalence (7-13%) was higher than interview-based assessments.

Conclusions:

• The method of assessing youth suicidality significantly influences reported prevalence rates.
• Discrepancies in reporting between children and mothers, particularly in at-risk populations, highlight the complexity of accurate assessment.
• Child and maternal characteristics correlate with reporting consistency and discrepancies, underscoring the need for nuanced interpretation of suicidality data.