Citation

Stewart SL, Celebre A, Hirdes JP, Poss JW. Child Psychiatry Hum. Dev. 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10578-020-00968-9

PMID

32076912

Abstract

Suicide is the second leading cause of death in adolescents within Canada. While several risk factors have been found to be associated with increased risk, appropriate decision-support tools are needed to identify children who are at highest risk for suicide and self-harm. The aim of the present study was to develop and validate a methodology for identifying children at heightened risk for self-harm and suicide. Ontario data based on the interRAI Child and Youth Mental Health Screener (ChYMH-S) were analyzed to develop a decision-support algorithm to identify young persons at risk for suicide or self-harm. The algorithm was validated with additional data from 59 agencies and found to be a strong predictor of suicidal ideation and self-harm. The RiSsK algorithm provides a psychometrically sound decision-support tool that may be used to identify children and youth who exhibit signs and symptoms noted to increase the likelihood of suicide and self-harm.

Language: en

Keywords

Children’s mental health; Self-harm; Suicidal ideation; Suicide risk; interRAI