Predicting Suicide: Statistical and Clinical Strategies (IN: The Fascination of Statistics, ed. by R J Brook and G C Arnold)

The authors argue that the statistical technique of multiple regression, in conjunction with clinical judgement, can improve the quality of suicide prediction. This technique helps eliminate judgemental biases & incorporates demographic base rates into the predictive process. Multiple regression allows a combination of variables (such as measures of hopelessness & anxiety) to predict behavior more accurately than by calculating all the explanatory variables independently.