Five questions about thoughts of suicide in the past month, each answered on a scale from 0 to 10. If the answer to the first question is 0 (Never), the remaining questions are skipped.
Report details · optional
Shown on the report and stored with the screening record. Use initials or a code, not full names.
Answers, results and report details are recorded by OpenScreener to monitor and improve the service. Privacy
About this screener — evidence, source, alternatives
A brief self-report screen for the presence and severity of suicidal thoughts in community and online settings, developed at the Australian National University. Each item rates one attribute of suicidal ideation; anyone answering “Never” to the first item skips the rest and scores zero.
Evidence · validated
Validated in an online survey of community-based Australian adults (n = 1,352). A cut-off of 1 had sensitivity of 85.5% for suicide plans and 84.0% for attempts (specificity 67.1% and 63.6%). Scores ≥ 21 had 95.8% specificity for a suicide plan and 94.9% for preparation/attempt in the past year (sensitivity 39.6% and 50.0%). Cronbach’s alpha 0.91; convergent validity with the C-SSRS and PHQ-9 (van Spijker et al., 2014).
Free alternative to
- Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation (BSS) · Pearson
Paid suicidal-ideation severity scale; the SIDAS is a brief free alternative for rating ideation severity.
Source & licence
van Spijker BAJ, Batterham PJ, Calear AL, Farrer L, Christensen H, Reynolds J, Kerkhof AJFM. The Suicidal Ideation Attributes Scale (SIDAS): community-based validation study of a new scale for the measurement of suicidal ideation. Suicide Life Threat Behav. 2014;44(4):408–419.
Licence: Free — the Australian National University states “No permission required – please cite reference.”
Official source ↗