Citation

Kingsbury S. J. Child Psychol. Psychiatry 1996; 37(5): 609-611.

Affiliation

Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Health Centre, Hertfordshire, U.K.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1996, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1469-7610.1996.tb01447.x

PMID

8807441

Abstract

This author, in a previous study, devised post-hoc a five-question screening instrument, PATHOS, that identified a high-risk group within adolescent overdose. This study examines the concurrent validity of PATHOS, with measures of depression, hopelessness, premeditation and suicidal intent in adolescents presenting with an overdose. Strong correlations were found with the above features as well as problem duration and previous overdose history. The PATHOS was able also to identify a high-risk group with a sensitivity of 100%, a specificity of 57% and all misclassifications were false positive. It is suggested that this could be used as an aid for non-psychiatric assessors.

Keywords: Suicide misclassification

Language: en