title: A closer look at self-reported suicide attempts: false positives and false negatives.
abstract: The validity of self-reported suicide attempt information is undermined by false positives (e.g., incidences without intent to die), or by unreported suicide attempts, referred to as false negatives. In a sample of 1,385 Austrian adults, we explored the occurrence of false positives and false negatives with detailed, probing questions. Removing false positives decreased the rate of suicide attempters from 4.3% to 2.7%. Probing questions also revealed 0.8% false negatives. We recommend using probing questions with both those who report a suicide attempt and those who do not report a suicide attempt to increase the validity of self-reported suicide-related information.
authors.affiliation: Suicide Prevention Research Program, Paracelsus Private Medical University, Salzburg; Kurosch Yazdi, Landesnervenklinik Wagner-Jauregg, Linz, Austria. M.Ploederl@salk.at
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Plöderl
authors.forename: Karl
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kralovec
authors.forename: Kurosch
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yazdi
authors.forename: Reinhold
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fartacek
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001317:Austria; D005188:False Negative Reactions; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012650:Self Disclosure; D057566:Self Report / Q000592:standards; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult