Ask Suicide-Screening Questions (ASQ) for Youth With Autism Spectrum and Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Description

Background: Suicide is the second leading cause of death for young people ages 10-24 years. There is no gold standard for evaluating suicidal thoughts and behaviors in young people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or other neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD). Also, youth with ASD/NDD are often excluded from many research studies. Because of this, researchers need more data. They want to make sure they are asking the best questions for young people in clinics such as the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) clinic. They want to make sure they have the best data to determine if a person is at risk for hurting or killing himself or herself. Objective: To develop and assess the efficacy of a suicide screening tool for people with ASD/NDD. Eligibility: Youth ages 8 to 17 who are engaged in assessment or treatment at the NIMH for ASD or other NDD Design: Participants will fill out 4 questionnaires during a 1-hour meeting with study staff. They will answer questions about how they have been feeling. They will be asked if they think about or plan to hurt or kill themselves. They will also be asked if they have ever thought about it or planned it in the past. Other questions will assess their understanding of death. Participants can take a break if needed. Parents of the participants will be asked similar questions. Parents will be informed if their child has current thoughts of suicide. About 1 week after the initial assessment, parents will be contacted to fill out a follow-up questionnaire. It will take about 10 minutes to complete.

Conditions

Suicidal Ideation

Study Overview

Study Details

Study overview

Background: Suicide is the second leading cause of death for young people ages 10-24 years. There is no gold standard for evaluating suicidal thoughts and behaviors in young people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or other neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD). Also, youth with ASD/NDD are often excluded from many research studies. Because of this, researchers need more data. They want to make sure they are asking the best questions for young people in clinics such as the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) clinic. They want to make sure they have the best data to determine if a person is at risk for hurting or killing himself or herself. Objective: To develop and assess the efficacy of a suicide screening tool for people with ASD/NDD. Eligibility: Youth ages 8 to 17 who are engaged in assessment or treatment at the NIMH for ASD or other NDD Design: Participants will fill out 4 questionnaires during a 1-hour meeting with study staff. They will answer questions about how they have been feeling. They will be asked if they think about or plan to hurt or kill themselves. They will also be asked if they have ever thought about it or planned it in the past. Other questions will assess their understanding of death. Participants can take a break if needed. Parents of the participants will be asked similar questions. Parents will be informed if their child has current thoughts of suicide. About 1 week after the initial assessment, parents will be contacted to fill out a follow-up questionnaire. It will take about 10 minutes to complete.

Validating the Ask Suicide-Screening Questions (ASQ) for Youth With Autism Spectrum and Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Ask Suicide-Screening Questions (ASQ) for Youth With Autism Spectrum and Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Condition
Suicidal Ideation
Intervention / Treatment

-

Contacts and Locations

Baltimore

Kennedy Krieger Institute/Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, 21205

Bethesda

National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, United States, 20892

Columbus

Nationwide Children's Hospital/ Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, United States, 43201

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

For general information about clinical research, read Learn About Studies.

Eligibility Criteria

  • * Participants must be engaged in assessment or treatment in one of the inpatient or outpatient medical health settings from one of the study site hospitals that are part of this protocol.
  • * Participants must be verbally fluent and have the ability to communicate verbally. This will, in part, be determined by one of the patient s clinicians or trained study staff, who will also be an associate investigator for this study and will already have routine access to information regarding the patient s verbal fluency.
  • * If the parent/patient expresses interest in participating in a research study, verbal fluency will be further confirmed by asking the parents if the child is verbally fluent (e.g. regularly speaks in sentences), asking the parent if their child will be able to understand and answer the study questions, and by observing the subject as they are explaining the study. The observation will entail taking a verbatim language sample if needed and discussing the decision about whether the child meets this verbal fluency criteria with a study supervisor if needed. The data collectors will be at least high school graduates and over the age of 18 and be trained in assessing fluency level through parent interview and observation. They will also be trained to understand the presentation of individuals with ASD, as well as in how to respond if the child is noncompliant or presents with suicidal thoughts and behaviors.
  • * Age 8 years to 17.
  • * English speaking child and parent; may use an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) device to assist.
  • * A legal guardian must provide permission and participant must sign an assent document or provide verbal assent.
  • * The parent or the legal guardian is unavailable/unwilling to sign consent.
  • * The participant will not have prisoner status, e.g. not on probation or house arrest

Ages Eligible for Study

8 Years to 17 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Collaborators and Investigators

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH),

Lisa M Horowitz, Ph.D., PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR, National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Study Record Dates

2025-09-18