AS38-01 - Multidimensional assessment of suicidality in children and adolescents

Abstract

Suicidal behaviour in children and adolescents is a matter of great concern and suicide-related behaviour during psychopharmacological treatment has been analyzed during the last years. Medication-related suicidality is defined as any suicide-related symptoms reported during the period of treatment. Suicide-related symptoms have several components that need to be considered to study suicide risk and its relationship with medication. The components have been classified and named in different ways, but the main are: Suicide ideation (thoughts about death, wish to be death), Suicide plans (to think about methods of carrying out a self-injurious behaviour that can result in death), Suicide communication or threats (to transmit or comment thoughts or intention of suicide, either explicit or implicit), Suicide behaviours of self-harm or suicide attempts (self-inflicted, dangerous behaviour with intention to die with nonfatal outcome). Self-injurious behaviour without suicidal ideation is not included in the concept of suicide-related symptoms by many authors, but it is also necessary to register it in order to have a complete picture and also because the intentionality behind these behaviours is not always clear. All of these concepts can be of different level considering real intention to die, determination of plans and severity of self inflicted injuries. Other important aspects to assess suicide risk are the moderating and mediating variables. The evaluation of suicide-related symptoms and association to medications has to be carried out with a validated instrument that assess all these components and their relation to different drug side-effects, prior treatment starts and subsequently during control visits.