Interviewing Prepubertal Children About Suicidal Ideation and Behavior

This paper examines unique problems encountered in interviewing prepubertal children about suicidal ideation & behavior. These include difficulties in assessment of suicidal intent, impact of cognitive development, particularly of the concept of death, interaction between current emotional state & memory of previous suicidal episodes, characteristics of play associated with suicidal states, effects of parents’ attitudes toward assessment on information gathering, & the impact of certain risk factors on cognition & behavior during the interview. (88 refs)