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Assessing for suicidal behavior in youth using the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment

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Abstract

This study investigated the clinical utility of the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA) for identifying youth at risk for suicide. Specifically, we investigated how well the Total Problems scores and the sum of two suicide-related items (#18 “Deliberately harms self or attempts suicide” and #91 “Talks about killing self”) were able to distinguish youth with a history of suicidal behavior. Youth (N = 1117) aged 5–18 were recruited for two studies of mental illness. History of suicidal behavior was assessed by semi-structured interviews (K-SADS) with youth and caregivers. Youth, caregivers, and a primary teacher each completed the appropriate form (YSR, CBCL, and TRF, respectively) of the ASEBA. Areas under the curve (AUCs) from ROC analyses and diagnostic likelihood ratios (DLRs) were used to measure the ability of both Total Problems T scores, as well as the summed score of two suicide-related items, to identify youth with a history of suicidal behavior. The Suicide Items from the CBCL and YSR performed well (AUCs = 0.85 and 0.70, respectively). The TRF Suicide Items did not perform better than chance, AUC = 0.45. The AUCs for the Total Problems scores were poor-to-fair (0.33–0.65). The CBCL Suicide Items outperformed all other scores (ps = 0.04 to <0.0005). Combining the CBCL and YSR items did not lead to incremental improvement in prediction over the CBCL alone. The sum of two questions from a commonly used assessment tool can offer important information about a youth’s risk for suicidal behavior. The low burden of this approach could facilitate wide-spread screening for suicide in an increasingly at-risk population.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ferkauf Graduate School, Yeshiva University, 1165 Morris Park Avenue, Rousso Building, Bronx, NY, 10461, USA

    Anna R. Van Meter & Yana Lechtman

  2. Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK

    Guillermo Perez Algorta

  3. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Eric A. Youngstrom & Jen K. Youngstrom

  4. Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA

    Norah C. Feeny

  5. Johns Hopkins University/Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Robert L. Findling

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  1. Anna R. Van Meter
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  2. Guillermo Perez Algorta
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  3. Eric A. Youngstrom
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  4. Yana Lechtman
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Correspondence to Anna R. Van Meter.

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Conflict of interest

Dr. Feeny has no conflict of interest to report. Dr. Findling receives or has received research support, acted as a consultant and/or served on a speaker’s bureau for Actavis, Akili, Alcobra, American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, American Psychiatric Press, Bracket, CogCubed, Cognition Group, Coronado Biosciences, Elsevier, Epharma Solutions, Forest, Genentech, GlaxoSmithKline, Guilford Press, Ironshore, Johns Hopkins University Press, KemPharm, Lundbeck, Medgenics, Merck, NIH, Neurim, Novartis, Otsuka, PCORI, Pfizer, Physicians Postgraduate Press, Purdue, Rhodes Pharmaceuticals, Roche, Sage, Shire, Sunovion, Supernus Pharmaceuticals, Syneurx, Takeda, Teva, TouchPoint, Tris, Validus, and WebMD. Ms. Lechtman has no conflict of interest to report. Dr. Perez Algorta has no conflict of interest to report. Dr. Van Meter has no conflict of interest to report. Dr. J. Youngstrom has no conflict of interest to report. Dr. E. Youngstrom has consulted with Pearson, Janssen, Otsuka, Lundbeck, and Western Psychological Services about psychological assessment.

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Van Meter, A.R., Algorta, G.P., Youngstrom, E.A. et al. Assessing for suicidal behavior in youth using the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 27, 159–169 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-017-1030-y

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