Cognitive Aspects of Adolescent Suicide

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

UNKNOWN

Clinical Phase

NA

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Brief Summary

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The purpose of this project is to pilot a new scale, The Desperation Scale, in a sample of young adolescents (aged 10-16) seen in the pediatric emergency room who require a psychiatric consultation. The proposed study is designed to assess the psychometric properties of this new scale and to provide information about the cognitive state of young suicidal individuals. It is hypothesized that this scale will be able to discriminate between those who are suicidal and those who are not. Data obtained in this pilot study will provide information about the usefulness of the construct of desperation and will guide future projects aimed at the assessment and treatment of suicidal individuals. The use of cognitive factors to predict suicidal behavior is appealing because they allow the clinician to tap into an individual's perception of his/her life circumstances. However, we believe the popular conceptualization of suicide as a result of "hopeless" thinking ignores an important aspect of suicidal behavior-the motivation to escape. We propose that a model of suicidal behavior that includes escape motivation, which we call the desperation model, will be better able to predict suicide than existing measures. We conceptualize desperation as consisting of three core elements: a sense of entrapment, feelings of anxiety/agitation, and a sense of time urgency. The current pilot study will test a 35-item scale that assesses these three elements of desperation. A pilot study of the Desperation Scale is currently being conducted at the Cornell University Medical Center (P.I. P.M. Marzuk) with depressed, adult inpatients. Our study is original in its use of the scale with an adolescent population and its focus on patients in the emergency room, when they are presumably in a "purer" suicidal state. It is hypothesized that those who are admitted to the emergency room for recent suicidal behavior will endorse feelings of entrapment, anxiety, and time urgency.

Detailed Description

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Conditions

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Suicide, Attempted

Keywords

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Suicide

Study Design

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Primary Study Purpose

DIAGNOSTIC

Interventions

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Desperation Scale

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* young adolescents seen in the pediatric emergency room at Yale-New Haven Hospital who require psychiatric consultation and who give consent to participate

Exclusion Criteria

* diagnosis of a psychotic or organic brain disorder or inability to read the study questionnaire due to low IQ, learning disability, or non-English speaking status

Minimum Eligible Age

10 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

16 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Locations

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Department of Psychology, Yale University

New Haven, Connecticut, United States

Site Status

Countries

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United States

Other Identifiers

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M01RR006022

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: secondary_id

View Link

NCRR-M01RR06022-0021

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id