The Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale: Associations between interrupted, aborted, and actual suicide attempts among adolescent inpatients

Abstract

The Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale divides suicide attempt behaviors into actual, interrupted, and aborted attempts, but limited data have been reported regarding associations between interrupted, aborted, and actual attempts. This study provided initial data on the ability of interrupted and aborted attempts to estimate the frequency of actual suicide attempts. Participants were adolescent psychiatric inpatients (59.9% female), 12-17 years (mean = 14.73, SD = 1.62). Results suggest that interrupted and aborted suicide attempts are associated with the frequency of actual suicide attempts, controlling for suicidal ideation and depressive symptoms. Future research should evaluate whether interrupted and aborted attempts prospectively predicting actual suicide attempts.

Keywords: Incremental validity; Risk assessment; Suicide-related behaviors.