Predicting Future Self-Harm or Suicide In Adolescents: A Systematic Review Of Risk Assessment Scales/Tools

Course overview

This course is based upon material published in BMJ Open and is available as an open access article. Self-harm and suicide are serious problems in children, adolescents and young people, with the highest rates seen in those aged 16-24 years. There is a strong association between self-harm and risk of future suicide, with approximately 50 percent of adolescents who die by suicide having previously self-harmed, and self-harm increasing the risk of death by suicide approximately tenfold. Predicting suicide and repetition of self-harm in adolescents is a challenge as it is usually a secretive and hidden behavior, and there is no single risk factor for adolescent self-harm. Risk scales and tools tend to be a key part of this assessment, however, there is currently only a small amount of evidence available regarding their use and effectiveness, and no guidance as to which to use, or which is best for particular populations or settings. This systematic review aimed to evaluate the ability of risk tools to predict future episodes of suicide or self-harm in adolescents. This systematic review is the first to explore the use of assessment tools in adolescents. The predictive ability of these tools varies greatly. This course on assessing adolescent suicide and self-harm risk is designed for social workers, professional counselors, psychologists, nurses, and substance abuse counselors, who do clinical work. This course is appropriate for beginning, intermediate and advanced level practitioners who wish to develop or increase their knowledge of adolescent suicide risk assessment. It may also be useful for licensed clinicians who require clinical continuing education courses for license renewal. The course is based on a journal article which includes research. It contains statistical analysis and data that some clinicians enjoy reading and others do not. A major benefit of reading research-based articles for continuing education is they provide practitioners with the latest findings in their field. Authors: Harris, Beese, and Moore Learning Objectives: This course will provide the practitioner with detailed information regarding the assessment of suicidal behavior risk in adolescents. Specifically, a professional will: Recognize the relationship between suicide and self-harm in adolescents and young adults Distinguish the characteristics of self-harm Summarize how accurately risk assessment tools predict future suicide attempts and self-harm Citation: Harris IM, Beese S, Moore D. Predicting future self-harm or suicide in adolescents: a systematic review of risk assessment scales/tools. BMJ Open 2019;9:e029311. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2019-029311