Child Suicide Screening Methods: Are We Asking the Right Questions? A Review of the Literature and Recommendations for Practice

• Child suicide (ages 5 through 14) is more prevalent than expected.
• Few suicide screening tools are specifically designed for use in the 5- to 14-year-old age group.
• Five potentially appropriate child suicide screening instruments for primary care are reviewed.
• Further development of brief, child-specific suicide screening instruments is needed.

Few suicide screening instruments are specifically designed for the 5 to 14 year-old age group. This paper reviews five currently available suicide screening tools that might be appropriate for use with children, evaluates the quality of these tools, and recommends which tools might be useful in primary care practice. To detect and prevent child suicide, primary care nurse practitioners must be committed to child-centered care, recognize that suicidal thoughts and behaviors can develop early in life, identify pertinent state and trait risk factors in children, have knowledge about the quality of available screening tools, and facilitate specialty care services.