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Validated Computerized Screener Predicts Youth Suicide
Adaptive Testing Technologies recently launched a computerized adaptive test that quickly assesses a young person’s likelihood of attempting suicide. A study published earlier this year in JAMA Psychiatry found the Computerized Adaptive Screen for Suicidal Youth (CASSY) algorithm had a sensitivity of 82.4% and a specificity of 80% in predicting a suicide attempt within 3 months of a teenager’s emergency department visit.
“Developed specifically to screen youth in emergency departments, the CASSY requires less than 2 minutes of a youth’s time to complete—then provides information to the care team about the youth’s level of suicide risk and suicide warning signs,” said study lead author Cheryl King, PhD, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. “The CASSY has the potential to be a game changer in our suicide prevention efforts.”
CASSY is the first prospectively validated universal screen for suicide attempt risk in pediatric emergency departments, according to the company. The test’s bank of 72 questions covers suicidal ideation and behavior, as well as suicide-related items drawn from the domains of psychopathology, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), social adjustment, sleep, substance use, anger, and aggression. The number of adaptively administered questions averages 11, taking an average 84 seconds to complete.
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To create CASSY, researchers used data for adolescents ages 12 through 17 admitted to 1 of 13 emergency departments in the United States during randomly selected shifts. Teens completed questionnaires on suicide ideation and rumination, history of suicide attempts, self-injury, depression, hopelessness, alcohol and drug misuse, family, school, and social connectedness, physical and sexual abuse, and other factors related to suicide risk. Participants were followed up 3 months after the screening to learn of any suicide attempts. A second study phase that tested CASSY in a new set of teens at 14 US emergency departments and 1 Indian Health Service emergency department also provided data used in the screener’s development.
CASSY is available in English and Spanish, with built-in optional audio. The test has a Flesch Reading Ease score of 80.4 and a Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level of 6.0.
References
Adaptive Testing Technologies announces screener to help identify youth at-risk of suicide: available for license. News release. Adaptive Testing Technologies. August 27, 2021. Accessed September 13, 2021.
