Suicide risk assessment in a large public mental health service: do suicide risk classifications identify those at risk?

Potential Harms of Responding to Youth Suicide Risk in Schools

The potential harms related to interventions for adults with suicide-related risk, particularly hospitalization, have been well documented. Much less work has focused on the potential harms related to interventions with youth struggling with suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Young people are most likely to receive mental health services in schools, which are recognized as meaningful sites for effective suicide prevention work. However, no overviews have conceptualized the potential harms to youth when schools engage in ineffective suicide prevention efforts. In this article, we discuss three prominent overlapping areas of potential harms: (1) privacy-related, (2) relationship-related, and (3) mental health-related. We then discuss key factors thought to influence the development and maintenance of these potential harms. We conclude by noting ways in which school-based mental health providers may attempt to reduce unintentional harms in this area, with an overarching goal of helping support school mental health providers and the youth they serve.

The implementation of a zero-suicide framework in a child and youth mental health service in Australia: processes and learnings

Suicide in children is a significant and growing problem. The "zero suicide" framework (ZSF) is one approach to suicide prevention used in health services for adults and children. This paper reports on the introduction of the first suicide prevention pathway (SPP) based on ZSF at a Child and Youth Mental Health Service (CYMHS) in Australia. It begins by describing the adaptations made to elements of the SPP originally designed for adults to meet the needs of children. Lessons learned in applying the SPP in the service are then discussed. The aim is to inform and improve practice in the use of zero suicide approaches in child and youth mental health settings in Australia and worldwide.

The Columbia-suicide severity rating scale: validity and psychometric properties of an online Spanish-language version in a Mexican population sample

The aim of this study was to evaluate the validity and psychometric properties in a Mexican sample of a Spanish-language online version of the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS). Data were collected between May and October 2021 from 3,645 participants aged 18 years and over, who agreed to complete the questionnaire. Reliability analysis, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and psychometric properties were calculated using a two-parameter model. The results showed a reasonable level of reliability with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.814, and evidence of unidimensionality, and construct validity for suicide risk at three risk levels: low, medium, and high. Analysis of the items suggests that they are consistent with the proposed theoretical model. Our results also demonstrate that the parameters are stable and able to efficiently discriminate individuals at high risk of suicide. We propose the use of this version of the C-SSRS in the Spanish-speaking population, since it is a multifactorial assessment of suicide risk and the inclusion of other clinical and risk factor assessments for a more comprehensive evaluation.

Preliminary Reporting Patterns of Suicide Ideation and Attempt Among Native American Adolescents in Two Samples

OBJECTIVE

Native American adolescents are disproportionately burdened by suicidality. Here, we examine patterns of reporting of suicide ideation and suicide attempt among Native American youth compared to those from other ethnoracial backgrounds, as this data is important for grounding commonly subscribed to frameworks of suicide risk (e.g., ideation-to-action).

METHOD

Data are from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey (N = 54,243; grades 9-12; 51.0% female) and Minnesota Student Survey (N = 335,151; grades 8, 9, 11; 50.7% female). Comparing Native American youth to peers from other ethnoracial backgrounds, we examined two suicide reporting patterns: 1) odds of reporting suicide attempt among those who reported ideation and 2) odds of reporting suicide ideation among those who reported an attempt.

RESULTS

Across both samples, when reporting suicide ideation, youth from other ethnoracial backgrounds were 20-55% less likely than Native American youth to also report attempt. While few consistent differences were observed between Native American youth and those from other racial minority backgrounds in patterns of co-reporting suicide ideation and attempt across samples, White youth were between 37% and 63% less likely than Native American youth to report a suicide attempt without also reporting ideation.

CONCLUSIONS

The increased odds of engaging in a suicide attempt with or without reporting ideation question the generalizability of widely held frameworks of suicide risk to Native American youth and have important implications for suicide risk monitoring. Future research is needed to illuminate how these behaviors unfold over time and the potential mechanisms of risk for engaging in suicide attempts in this disproportionately burdened group.Abbreviations: YRBSS: Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey; MSS: Minnesota Student Survey.

The Paradox of Suicide Prevention

The recognition that we cannot use risk stratification (high, medium, low) to predict suicide or to allocate resources has led to a paradigm shift in suicide prevention efforts. There are challenges in adapting to these new paradigms, including reluctance of clinicians and services to move away from traditional risk categorisations; and conversely, the risk of a pendulum swing in which the focus of care swings from one approach to determining service priority and focus (e.g., diagnosis, formulation, risk and clinical care) to a new focus (e.g., suicide specific and non-clinical care), potentially supplanting the previous approach. This paper argues that the Prevention Paradox provides a useful mental model to support a shift in paradigm, whilst maintaining a balanced approach that incorporates new paradigms within the effective aspects of existing ones. The Prevention Paradox highlights the seemingly paradoxical situation where the greatest burden of disease or death is caused by those at low to moderate risk due their larger numbers. Current planning frameworks and resources do not support successful or sustainable adoption of these new approaches, leading to missed opportunities to prevent suicidal behaviours in healthcare. Adopting systems approaches to suicide prevention, such as the Zero Suicide Framework, implemented in a large mental health service in Australia and presented in this paper as a case study, can support a balanced approach of population- and individual-based suicide prevention efforts. Results demonstrate significant reductions in re-presentations with suicide attempts for consumers receiving this model of care; however, the increasing numbers of placements compromise the capacity of clinical teams to complete all components of standardised pathway of care. This highlights the need for review of resource planning frameworks and ongoing evaluations of the critical aspects of the interventions.

The performance of machine learning models in predicting suicidal ideation, attempts, and deaths: A meta-analysis and systematic review

Research has posited that machine learning could improve suicide risk prediction models, which have traditionally performed poorly. This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated the performance of machine learning models in predicting longitudinal outcomes of suicide-related outcomes of ideation, attempt, and death and examines outcome, data, and model types as potential covariates of model performance. Studies were extracted from PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and PsycINFO. A bivariate mixed effects meta-analysis and meta-regression analyses were performed for studies using machine learning to predict future events of suicidal ideation, attempts, and/or deaths. Risk of bias was assessed for each study using an adaptation of the Prediction model Risk Of Bias Assessment Tool. Narrative review included 56 studies, and analyses examined 54 models from 35 studies. The models achieved a very good pooled AUC of 0.86, sensitivity of 0.66 (95% CI [0.60, 0.72)], and specificity of 0.87 (95% CI [0.84, 0.90]). Pooled AUCs for ideation, attempt, and death were similar at 0.88, 0.87, and 0.84 respectively. Model performance was highly varied; however, meta-regressions did not provide evidence that performance varied by outcome, data, or model types. Findings suggest that machine learning has the potential to improve suicide risk detection, with pooled estimates of machine learning performance comparing favourably to performance of traditional suicide prediction models. However, more studies with lower risk of bias are necessary to improve the application of machine learning in suicidology.

Utilization of psychiatric services prior to suicide- a retrospective comparison of users with and without previous suicide attempts

INTRODUCTION

The aim was to investigate psychiatric health care utilization two years before death by suicide among individuals with previous suicide attempts (PSA) compared with those without (NSA).

METHOD

A retrospective population-based cohort study was conducted including 484 individuals who died by suicide in Sweden in 2015 and were in contact with psychiatric services within the two years preceding death, identified through the Cause of Death register. Data on psychiatric health care two years before death, including suicide attempts according to notes in the medical record was used. Associations between having at least one PSA vs. NSA and health care utilization were estimated as odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) by logistic regression analyses.

RESULTS

Of the 484 individuals included, 51% had PSA. Those with PSA were more likely than NSA to have received a psychiatric diagnosis [OR 1.96 (CI 95% 1.17-3.30)], to have ongoing psychotropic medication [OR 1.96 (CI 95% 1.15-3.36)] and to have been absent from appointments during the last three months [1.97 (1.25-3.13)]. In addition, elevated suicide risk was more often noted in the psychiatric case records of those with a PSA than those without [OR 2.17 (CI 95% 1.24-3.79)].

CONCLUSION

The results underline the importance of improved suicide risk assessment as well as thorough diagnostic assessment and when indicated, psychiatric treatment as suicide preventive interventions regardless of PSA. Furthermore, the larger proportion of absence from appointments in individuals with PSA may indicate a need of improved alliance between psychiatric care providers and individuals with PSA.HIGHLIGHTSBeing assessed with elevated suicide risk was more common among those with previous attempt/s (PSA).One-fifth of all with no previous attempt (NSA) had no psychiatric diagnosis, compared to one in ten in those with PSA.Receiving psychotropic medication was more common among those with PSA.