Citation

Range LM. J. Psychopathol. Behav. Assess. 2005; 27(2): 133-140.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2005, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10862-005-5387-8

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In suicide assessment, Beck's Scale for Suicide Ideation is used widely, though other adult and youth instruments are available. A creative, positive instrument is the Reasons for Living. Advantages of suicide questionnaires include rapid assessment, access to information that may be difficult to obtain by observations and verbal interaction, ease of completion for some, availability of established norms for some instruments, and indirect information provided by questionnaire responding. Disadvantages are the temptation to accept responses uncritically, the possibility that therapists or clients view the questionnaires as superseding the therapeutic relationship, the implication that suicide tendencies are static, and, at times, cost. Overall, sound clinical judgment is paramount when assessing for suicide. © 2005 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.

Language: en

Keywords

human; suicide; Suicide; Assessment; risk assessment; Reasons for living; review; questionnaire; rating scale; psychologic assessment; observation; psychologic test; instrumentation; verbal behavior; Beck depression inventory