An examination of the validity of retrospective measures of suicide attempts in youth.
OBJECTIVE
This study used prospective data to investigate the validity of a retrospective measure of suicide attempts from four different perspectives.


METHODS
Data were retrieved from 883 participants in the Raising Healthy Children project, a longitudinal study of youth recruited from a Pacific Northwest school district. The retrospective measure was collected when participants were 18-19 years of age and results were compared with measures of depressive symptoms collected prospectively.


RESULTS
Results showed strong corroboration between retrospective reports of first suicide attempt and prospective measures of depression, with attempters experiencing significantly more depression than their nonattempting peers, t (df = 853) = 10.26, p < .001. In addition, within the attempter group, depression scores during the year of their reported first attempt were significantly higher than the average depression score across previous years, t (df = 67) = 3.01, p < .01.


CONCLUSIONS
Results from this study suggest that the reports of older adolescents regarding their suicide attempts are corroborated by their prospective reports of depression in childhood and earlier adolescence. Thus, there is support that retrospective measures of suicidal behavior, namely suicide attempts, may be a valid method of assessment.
College of Education, Educational Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195-3600, USA. mazza@u.washington.edu
James J
JJ
Mazza
Richard F
RF
Catalano
Robert D
RD
Abbott
Kevin P
KP
Haggerty
D000293:Adolescent; D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002648:Child; D015897:Comorbidity; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007175:Impulsive Behavior / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012649:Self Concept; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult