Suicide Screening Among Youth at First Court Contact

Abstract

Youth involved in the juvenile justice system are at elevated risk for suicide and co-occurring mental health symptoms. This study aims to examine the suicide risk and treatment needs of court-involved, non-incarcerated (CINI) youth, and to understand the acceptability and effectiveness of implementing a mental health screening procedure at time of first court contact. By embedding a forensic mental health screening tool into the intake process of a family court diversionary program, a total of 891 youth (aged 12–18) were assessed using the Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument-2 (MAYSI-2). Analysis of screening responses revealed 12.5% of youth indicated risk for suicide with risk levels differentiated by youth sex, race and ethnicity. Suicide ideation was also significantly associated with flagging, an indication of clinical risk, on all other scales of the MAYSI-2, as well as subsequent referrals to treatment. Screening for suicide at first point of court contact within an existing diversionary program may serve as a critical and effective point of intervention for youth in need.

Keywords:

• Juvenile justice
• public health
• suicide screening

Additional information

Funding

Funding support was provided by National Institute of Mental Health, under grant [K23MH111606] (PI: Kemp) and by National Institute on Drug Abuse, under grants [R01DA034538, R01DA035231 and K24DA046569] (PI: Tolou-Shams).

Notes on contributors

Kathleen Kemp

Kathleen Kemp Bradley/Hasbro Children’s Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, RI, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.

Ali M. Yurasek

Ali M. Yurasek College of Health and Human Performance, Department of Health Education and Behavior, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.

Brittney Poindexter

Brittney Poindexter Department of Behavioral Health, Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities, Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Frankfort, KY, USA.

Margaret Webb

Margaret Webb Bradley/Hasbro Children’s Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, RI, USA.

Marina Tolou-Shams

Marina Tolou-Shams Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA; Division of Infant, Child, and Adolescent Psychiatry, Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital San Francisco, CA, USA