ABSTRACT
Objective
This study reports on the psychometric properties of a brief, self-administered screening
questionnaire, the Columbia SuicideScreen® (CSS), intended to identify high school
students at risk for suicide.
Method
Seventeen hundred twenty-nine 9th- to 12th-grade students completed the CSS and Beck
Depression Inventory during school hours in 1991 to 1994. Three hundred fifty-six
students who screened positively and 285, group matched on age, gender, and ethnicity,
who screened negatively were examined on the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children
(DISC), version 2.3, to assess validity. The DISC-based suicide risk criterion was
suicidal ideation or prior suicide attempt and a DSM-III-R diagnosis of major depression or dysthymia or substance use. Test–retest reliability
was assessed in a subsample of 85.
Results
The most balanced algorithm had a sensitivity of 0.75, specificity 0.83, and positive
predictive value 16%. Suicidal ideation and prior attempt item reliabilities (κ) were
0.48 and 0.58, respectively. Eight-day test–retest reliability for the most balanced
scoring algorithm was 0.32.
Conclusions
The CSS demonstrated good sensitivity and reasonable specificity identifying students
at risk for suicide. A second-stage evaluation would be needed to reduce the burden
of low specificity.
Key Words
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SUGGESTED READING
- Suicide prevention: a medical breakthrough?.Acta Psychiatr Scand. 2000; 102: 113-117
Article Info
Publication History
Accepted:
June 3,
2003
Footnotes
This work was supported by Centers for Disease Control grant R49/CCR 202598, NIMH grants P30 MH 43878 and ST32MH-16434, and grants from the American Mental Health Foundation and the Joy and William Ruane Center at Columbia University.
Identification
Copyright
© 2004 The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
