Lifetime suicide attempts in juvenile assessment center youth.
To describe suicide risk in youth seen at a Juvenile Assessment Center (JAC), we examined relationships among self-reported lifetime attempts and demographic, justice, and psychiatric data via logistic regression. Similar to other settings, youth reporting lifetime attempts were more likely to be older, female, not living with both parents and currently arrested for a violent or felony crime. Mood, substance use, and behavior disorder each increased prediction substantially. Anxiety Disorder was associated with elevated attempt rates for boys only. JACs need to develop protocols for identifying suicide risk; further, since suicide history predicts future attempts, Anxiety Disordered boys may be at particular risk.
Nolen
Scott
S
Center for Promotion of Mental Health in Juvenile Justice, Division of Child Psychiatry, Columbia University/New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY 10032, USA. nolens@childpsych.columbia.edu
McReynolds
Larkin S
LS
DeComo
Robert E
RE
John
Reni
R
Keating
Joseph M
JM
Wasserman
Gail A
GA
D000293:Adolescent; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D003415:Crime / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D011330:Prisons / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012737:Sex Factors; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*