The Columbia–Suicide Severity Rating Scale

Initial Validity and Internal Consistency Findings From Three Multisite Studies With Adolescents and Adults

Bibliographic Data

ID23377352
AuthorsKelly Posner (From the Department of Psychiatry and the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York; Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, Pittsburgh; Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, N.Y.; and the Monash University Centre for Developmental...), Gregory K Brown (0000-0002-1637-0335, From the Department of Psychiatry and the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York; Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, Pittsburgh; Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, N.Y.; and the Monash University Centre for Developmental...), Barbara Stanley (0000-0003-0015-5494, From the Department of Psychiatry and the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York; Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, Pittsburgh; Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, N.Y.; and the Monash University Centre for Developmental...), Doug Brent (0000-0002-5756-2157, University of Pittsburgh), David A Brent (From the Department of Psychiatry and the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York; Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, Pittsburgh; Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, N.Y.; and the Monash University Centre for Developmental...), Kseniya Yershova (University of Pittsburgh), Kseniya V Yershova (From the Department of Psychiatry and the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York; Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, Pittsburgh; Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, N.Y.; and the Monash University Centre for Developmental...), Maria A Oquendo (0000-0002-7901-5082, From the Department of Psychiatry and the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York; Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, Pittsburgh; Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, N.Y.; and the Monash University Centre for Developmental...), Glenn W Currier (From the Department of Psychiatry and the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York; Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, Pittsburgh; Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, N.Y.; and the Monash University Centre for Developmental...), Glenn Melvin (0000-0002-6958-3908, From the Department of Psychiatry and the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York; Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, Pittsburgh; Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, N.Y.; and the Monash University Centre for Developmental...), Glenn A Melvin (From the Department of Psychiatry and the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York; Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, Pittsburgh; Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, N.Y.; and the Monash University Centre for Developmental...), Laurence Greenhill (From the Department of Psychiatry and the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York; Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, Pittsburgh; Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, N.Y.; and the Monash University Centre for Developmental...), Laurence L Greenhill (0000-0001-5416-9985, University of Pittsburgh), Sa Shen (From the Department of Psychiatry and the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York; Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, Pittsburgh; Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, N.Y.; and the Monash University Centre for Developmental...), J John Mann (0000-0002-0265-6586, From the Department of Psychiatry and the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York; Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, Pittsburgh; Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, N.Y.; and the Monash University Centre for Developmental...)
Year2011
Volume168
Issue12
Pages1266-1277
Publication date2011-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Psychiatry (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-953X • E-ISSN: 1535-7228
PublisherAmerican Psychiatric Association Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1176/appi.ajp.2011.10111704
PMID22193671
PMCIDPMC3893686
OpenAlexW2148083007
LanguageEN
Citations received352
References cited37

OBJECTIVE: Research on suicide prevention and interventions requires a standard method for assessing both suicidal ideation and behavior to identify those at risk and to track treatment response. The Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) was designed to quantify the severity of suicidal ideation and behavior. The authors examined the psychometric properties of the scale. METHOD: The C-SSRS's validity relative to other measures of suicidal ideation and behavior and the internal consistency of its intensity of ideation subscale were analyzed in three multisite studies: a treatment study of adolescent suicide attempters (N=124); a medication efficacy trial with depressed adolescents (N=312); and a study of adults presenting to an emergency department for psychiatric reasons (N=237). RESULTS: The C-SSRS demonstrated good convergent and divergent validity with other multi-informant suicidal ideation and behavior scales and had high sensitivity and specificity for suicidal behavior classifications compared with another behavior scale and an independent suicide evaluation board. Both the ideation and behavior subscales were sensitive to change over time. The intensity of ideation subscale demonstrated moderate to strong internal consistency. In the adolescent suicide attempters study, worst-point lifetime suicidal ideation on the C-SSRS predicted suicide attempts during the study, whereas the Scale for Suicide Ideation did not. Participants with the two highest levels of ideation severity (intent or intent with plan) at baseline had higher odds for attempting suicide during the study. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that the C-SSRS is suitable for assessment of suicidal ideation and behavior in clinical and research settings.

Depression (economics) · Developmental psychology · Injury prevention · Internal consistency · Medical emergency · Poison control · Psychiatry · Psychometrics · Rating scale · Scale (ratio) · Suicidal ideation · Suicide attempt · Suicide prevention · Test validity · Clinical Psychology · COVID-19 and Mental Health · Human Factors and Ergonomics · Medicine · Mental Health Treatment and Access · Psychology · Suicide and Self-Harm Studies