Assessment of suicidal ideation in inner-city children and young adolescents: Reliability and validity of the suicidal ideation questionnaire-JR

This study examined the reliability and validity of the Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire-Junior (SIQ-JR; Reynolds, 1987) as an instrument for identifying and assessing current suicidal ideation in a sample of 91 children and adolescents, aged 11 to 15 years who attended an inner-city parochial school. Participants completed the SIQ-JR as part of a screening procedure to identify youngsters who are at-risk for suicidal behavior. Psychometric results showed that the internal consistency reliability coefficient of the SIQ-JR was high, r(alpha) = .91, and the test-retest reliability coefficient was .89. Multiple regression results examining criterion-related validity showed that only the suicidal ideation factor of a clinical interview designed to assess suicidality was significantly related to SIQ-JR scores, beta = .67, p < .001. The results of this study support the use of the SIQ-JR as a reliable and valid measure for the evaluation of suicidal ideation in children and young adolescents. The results and their implications for school psychologists are discussed.