Authors: Russell I. Copelan, MD and David Ashley
Publisher: Psychological Assessment Resources
Purpose: Assess risk of violence (both homicidal and suicidal) among children and adolescents
Age Range: Child, Adolescent, Adult
Admin: Completed by examiner
Time: 10-20 minutes
Qualification: A degree from an accredited 4-year college or university in Psychology, Counseling, or a closely related field PLUS satisfactory completion of coursework in Test Interpretation, Psychometrics and Measurement Theory, Educational Statistics, or a closely related area; OR license or certification from an agency that requires appropriate training and experience in the ethical and competent use of psychological tests.
The ACUTE is a 27-item structured assessment that is based on information obtained through various sources including, but not limited to, patient interview, chart review (e.g., medical, school), and family interview. The ACUTE is designed to assist in the evaluation of a child's or an adolescent's actual, attempted, or threatened act to harm him- or herself or others. More specifically, the ACUTE was designed to assist in determining the associated level of risk for near-future violence (e.g., hours to days). The measure provides the user with an overall Threat Classification (i.e., Extreme Clinical risk factors, High Clinical risk factors, Moderate Clinical risk factors, Low Clinical risk factors) as well as additional cluster scores including Precipitating Factors, Early Precipitating Factors, Late Precipitating Factors, Predisposing Factors, Impulsivity, and the ACUTE Total score.
The ACUTE is designed to be used in a variety of situations and settings including emergency room, inpatient care, outpatient care, schools, and research, and can be used by a number of psychiatric/psychological personnel including physicians, psychiatrists, school psychologists, clinical psychologists, psychiatric nurses, and licensed clinical social workers. In addition, the ACUTE may be useful in assessing adverse drug reaction and in serial assessment (e.g., following hospital discharge or outpatient supervision).
The standardization sample for the ACUTE included 542 children and adolescents ages 8-18 years. This sample consisted of four study groups: (a) Non-Threat, (b) Suicide Threat, (c) Homicide Threat, and (d) Homicide-Suicide Threat.
Reliability and Validity
- Internal consistency was moderate to high for cluster scores and the Total score with alpha coefficients ranging from .70-.85.
- Test-retest stability was examined using a subsample of a group and corrected correlations ranged from .71-.97 over a period of 24 to 48 hours.
- The Total score yielded an interrater reliability coefficient of .94, with the clusters ranging from .74-.99.
- Convergent and discriminant validity was examined with the Clinical Assessment of Depression™ (CAD™), the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI), and the Suicide Ideation Questionnaire (SIQ).
- Criterion-related validity was assessed via an age-matched psychiatric group (n = 70) who were not at risk for violence.
The ACUTE materials consist of the ACUTE Professional Manual, the carbonless ACUTE Rating Form, which includes the Scoring Sheet, and the Score Summary Sheet. The Professional Manual guides the user through the ACUTE question by question, providing the relevance of each item, and suggestions for sources of information for each of the 27 items. After scoring is completed, the raw scores are transferred to the ACUTE Score Summary Sheet, where a percentile range and a qualitative range are determined for each of the clusters and the Total score. Clinical interpretation is carefully outlined in the Professional Manual through a five-step interpretive guideline.
