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Autism Spectrum and Developmental Disorders

(PS2-51) Bridging the Gap: Clinician Readiness to Assess Suicidality in Autistic Adolescents

Friday, November 21, 2025
11:30 AM - 12:30 PM CST
Location: Elite Hall A, Level 1

    Co-Author(s)

  • LC

    Liv Corum, B.S.

    Undergraduate Researcher
    Idaho State University
    Pocatello, Idaho, United States

  • RR

    Robert Rieske, Ph.D.

    Clinical Psychology - Clinic Director/Associate Professor
    Idaho State University
    Pocatello, Idaho, United States

Abstract Text: Autistic youth are up to 28 times more likely to have suicide ideation and attempts than their non-autistic peers (Mayes et al., 2013). Despite this elevated incidence rate of suicidal thoughts and behaviors in autistic individuals, previous research suggests that many clinicians perceive the rates of suicidality in the neurodivergent population to be lower when compared to their neurotypical counterparts. Furthermore, there is a noticeable absence of any validated suicide assessment or treatment measures adapted for use in the neurodivergent population. Likewise, clinicians report limited training and decreased confidence in administering suicide assessments to autistic individuals, which hinders their ability to provide appropriate care. For this reason, the present study aims to identify how clinician competency and confidence impact clinician likelihood to assess for suicidality in at-risk autistic adolescents. Using an online nationwide survey, we collected data from 99 licensed psychologists practicing in the United States (age range: 26-90, M = 53.84, SD = 14.51). Participants were recruited via subreddit pages, private Facebook groups, state psychological association listservs, and the American Board of Professional Psychologists (ABPP) directory. The majority of participants identified as female (57.6%) and White/Caucasian (87.9%), with 8.1% identifying as neurodivergent and 27.3% reporting personal experience with suicidal ideation. Clinician likelihood to assess was calculated by averaging clinicians’ likelihood to assess for suicide across 12 vignettes presenting cases of neurotypical and neurodivergent individuals with varying levels of suicide risk. Results of a Pearson's correlation indicate that clinicians are significantly more likely to assess for suicidality in autistic adolescents compared to neurotypical adolescents. Moreover, there was not a significant correlation between clinician likelihood to assess and clinician competency nor likelihood to assess and clinician competence. Yet, isolating clinicians’ average competency scores revealed some fascinating results; clinicians reported on average 49.14% competency (SD = 11.58%) in the comorbidity of suicidality and ASD. Similarly, on average, clinicians’ reported 44.61% confidence (SD = 27.63%) in administering suicide assessments to autistic individuals. These findings suggest that previously found discrepancies in clinicians’ perception of suicide risk among neurotypical versus neurodivergent adolescents may not persist in the status quo. Nonetheless, it is imperative that clinicians receive better training concerning the administration of suicide assessments and treatments for autistic individuals to enhance their competency and confidence in this domain.