Using recursive partitioning to predict presence and severity of suicidal ideation amongst college students

OBJECTIVE: Predicting the presence and severity of suicidal ideation in college students is important, as deaths by suicide amongst young adults have increased in the past 20 years. PARTICIPANTS: = 5494) from ten universities across eight states. METHOD: Participants answered three questionnaires related to lifetime and past month suicidal ideation, and an indicator of suicidal ideation in a DSM-5 symptom measure. We used recursive partitioning to predict the presence, absence, and severity, of suicidal ideation. RESULTS: Recursive partitioning models varied in their accuracy and performance. The best-performing model consisted of predictors and outcomes measured by the DSM-5 Level 1 Cross-Cutting Symptom Measure. Sexual orientation was also an important predictor in most models. CONCLUSIONS: A single measure of DSM-5 symptom severity may help universities understand suicide severity to promote targeted interventions. Though further work is needed, as similar scaling amongst predictors could have influenced the model.