A Proof-of-Concept Study for Assessing the School District Suicide
Policy Evaluation Tool (SDSPET)
Abstract
Background: As adolescent suicide rates have increased, there
has been a nationwide focus on legislation requiring school districts to
create suicide prevention policies. There is a lack of tools to make a
quantitative assessment of the quality and breadth of school-district
suicide prevention policies. Thus, we developed a proof-of-concept
instrument, the School District Suicide Policy Evaluation Tool (SDSPET).
Methods: The SDSPET is derived from the “Model School District
Policy on Suicide Prevention,” a document compiled by four nationally
recognized suicide organizations. As a preliminary validation of the
SDSPET, four independent raters used the SDSPET in a systematic analysis
of suicide prevention policies for all school districts in Utah.
Results: Inter-rater reliability was calculated to be 98.8%
with intraclass correlation analysis. Analysis revealed a right-skewed
distribution of policy scores, and a median total score was 2.25 out of
36 possible criteria. Conclusion: This proof-of-concept study
demonstrates the utility of the SDSPET in quantifying the shortcomings
of school-district policies on suicide while generating specific
recommendations for improvement. With further validity testing, we
expect this tool to be beneficial to school district administrators,
education policymakers, and those studying suicide interventions and
outcomes in school-aged children and adolescents.