Development and Validation of Scales for Estimation of Suicide Risk (IN: Suicidology: Contemporary Developments, ed. by E S Shneidman)

Describes a project undertaken to generate & validate suicide risk scales using a prospective design, relatively large samples, a wide range of variables, & enough follow-up time to provide enough completed suicides from the sample to permit meaningful statistical analysis for both identification of discriminating variables & for subsequent validation. Results of initial validation procedures are included, along with a discussion of broader questions raised by validation efforts. (LH) (26 refs.)