Identify risk factors for suicide in youth and protective factors clinicians should assess.

• A. Risk factors include prior attempts, plan, access to means, mood disorders, and substance use; protective factors include connectedness, coping skills, access to care, and supportive school/family networks.
• B. Risk factors include prior attempts and mood disorders, but protective factors are not important to assess.
• C. Risk factors are less important than protective factors in predicting suicide.
• D. A comprehensive assessment is not necessary if mood disturbances are mild.

Answer: (D)

Understanding suicide risk in youth requires looking at both what increases risk and what supports resilience. A complete assessment identifies multiple risk factors such as a history of attempts, having a plan, access to means, mood disorders, and substance use, while also recognizing protective factors like connectedness to family and school, coping skills, access to care, and supportive networks. This combination helps clinicians gauge overall risk and tailor interventions that both reduce danger and strengthen supports.

This is why the best choice is the one that presents a broad set of factors on both sides. It reflects the reality that risk assessment is not about a single warning sign but about how multiple elements interact, and it emphasizes building on protective factors to bolster safety and well-being.

Other options fall short because they minimize what to assess. One suggests protective factors aren’t important to consider, which would ignore elements that can buffer risk. Another implies that risk factors are less predictive than protective factors, which overemphasizes resilience at the expense of known risk indicators. The last option wrongly claims a comprehensive assessment isn’t necessary when mood symptoms are mild, which is unsafe since risk can exist even with mild mood disturbances and requires thorough evaluation.