Perspectives from the Autism Community on the Potential Utility of a Novel Measure of Suicide Risk and Mental Health Symptoms for Autistic Youth: A Pilot Study

Because autistic youth experience increased suicide risk and there are no suicide risk screening tools for this population, existing measures need to be evaluated and then modified with input from the autism community. This pilot study obtained feedback from autistic youth, caregivers, and autism specialist clinicians (N = 14) on the applicability of a novel measure of suicide and mental health symptoms, the Kiddie-Computerized Adaptive Test (K-CAT) scales, for use with autistic youth. While impressions were largely positive and several features support its use, participants identified several concerns that warrant attention. Concerns aligned with those identified in previous research on other measures developed for the non-autistic population, with the most endorsed problem being language/terminology issues. Additional areas of assessment (e.g., perseveration, emotion dysregulation) were recommended to better capture the experience of suicidality in autistic youth. Results continue to underscore that measures developed for the general population cannot be applied to autistic individuals without thorough evaluation and potential modification. The feedback from community members in this study will be used in a future modification of the K-CAT for use with autistic youth.