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Contemporary Classifications of Suicidal Behaviors
Contemporary Classifications of Suicidal Behaviors
85
Research Trends
Contemporary Classifications
of Suicidal Behaviors
A Systematic Literature Review
Benjamin Goodfellow1,2 , Kairi Kõlves1, and Diego De Leo1
Australian Institute of Suicide Research and Prevention, World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Research in
1
Abstract. Background: The absence of agreed-upon terminology, definitions, and operational classifications has hampered research in the field
of suicidology for many decades. Aims and Method: We systematically reviewed contemporary classifications of suicidal behavior using the
scope of the classification (comprehensive vs. restricted or single behaviors), and the presence or absence of a classification scheme and an
operational definition of intent as features to enable analysis and comparison. Results: A chronological perspective shows that classification
systems tend to be more and more precise and operational for clinical and research field work. However, on an international level, the develop-
ment of classifications appears to precede the establishment of agreed-upon definitions and terms to describe suicidal behavior. Limitations:
The review was conducted in English only. Conclusion: Universal agreement on definitions and terms for suicidal behavior should precede the
development of classifications.
The lack of an internationally agreed-upon set of defini- behaviors and not of motivations or any circumstantial
tions and terms, or an agreed-upon classification to de- details not part of the act or behavior itself. We did not in-
scribe and categorize the whole spectrum of suicidal ide- clude classifications that were explicative in nature (i.e.,
ation and behavior, has hindered research in the field of that implied an etiological theory). In this article we thus
suicidology for many years (Silverman & De Leo, 2016). refer to descriptive classifications (i.e., that do not imply eti-
As a contribution to the International Association for Sui- ology) when using the word classification.
cide Prevention Task Force on Nomenclature and Classifi-
cation’s 10-step plan – “reviewing existing nomenclatures,
definitions, and classification systems” (Silverman & De
Leo, 2016, p. 85) – this review systematically examines Method
existing classifications of suicidal behavior. It follows two
previous studies by the same authors (Goodfellow, Kõlves, We followed the PRISMA Statement (Moher, Libera-
& De Leo, 2018, 2019) reviewing nomenclatures and defi- ti, Tetzlaff, & Altman, 2009). The PRISMA Flowchart is
nitions of suicidal behaviors, respectively. available as Electronic Supplementary Material 1 and ad-
O’Carroll et al. (1996) stated that a classification ditional information is available from the corresponding
scheme: author. The first author screened all abstracts and select-
ed relevant papers, and final consensus about selecting
Implies … comprehensiveness; a systematic arrangement of papers to be included in the review was reached with the
items in groups or categories with ordered, nested subcatego- other authors.
ries; scientific … validity; exhaustiveness; accuracy sufficient
for research or clinical practice; and an unambiguous set of
rules for assigning items to a single place in the classification
scheme. (p. 240) Search Strategy
As detailed herein, our systematic review is related to An Internet-based search of Social Science Citation Index,
this definition of classification. We limited our attention CINAHL, PubMed, and Scopus was conducted for Eng-
to classification systems that were descriptive of acts and lish-language papers between 1966 and November 21,
2018. Search terms were as follows: (Suicid* OR Self-harm) As illustrated in Table 1, 14 classifications (two items for
AND (Definition and Terminology and Classification). American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013) include a
classification scheme and five do not. We derived our defi-
nition of a scheme from the definition of a classification
Inclusion Criteria scheme by O’Carroll et al. (1996, p 240): that is, “ … an un-
ambiguous set of rules for assigning items to a single place
In total, 10,255 papers with duplicates were identified, in the classification scheme” (our italics). We thus defined
and 5,933 papers remained after removal of duplicates. a classification scheme as an unambiguous set of rules that
After perusal of titles and abstracts, 26 potentially relevant guides a rater in the process of classification, and thus as
papers remained. Reference lists were checked for any distinct from the classification itself. The level of detail and
other papers, books, book sections, or reports. Ten more precision in the rules comprised in these schemes is highly
references were found in this way. After reading 36 full pa- variable and we decided that even quite superficial sets of
pers, 18 papers were considered as relevant for this review. rules would qualify as schemes in our review. The schemes
Criteria for relevance were that the paper should present had to include at least some illustrative case examples, a
an original classification system of the authors’ own con- figure (e.g., a decision tree), or a walk-through of the pro-
ception, a modification of a previous classification that cess of classification, all of which aimed at helping a rater
changed its logical nature, or an item or set of items to be use the proposed classification.
added to an existing classification. As noted earlier, classi-
fications had to be descriptive of acts or behaviors and not
based on motivation, context, or explicative in nature. Comprehensive Classification Systems
Classification
Author(s), date Name of classification Main categories of classification Type of classification scheme
Devries, 1968 An Operational • Normal Comprehensive Yes
Classification of Sui- • Emotionally disturbed
cidal Behaviors • Suicidal ideation
• Threatened suicide
• Attempted suicide
• Committed suicide
Litman, 1968 Classification of De- • First-degree suicide Restricted Yes
grees of Suicide • Second-degree suicide
• Third-degree suicide
• Lack of capacity for intention
• Self-negligence
• “Justifiable” suicide
Cohen, 1969 Suicidopathy • Suicidation Comprehensive No
• Suicidaction
• Self-assault
Beck et al., Classification of Sui- • Completed suicide Comprehensive Yes
1973 cidal Behaviors • Suicide attempt
• Suicidal ideas
Perr, 1979 Suicide Disorders • Suicidal ideation Comprehensive No
• Suicidal gesture
• Suicidal act
• Suicide, completed
Ellis, 1988 Dimensions of Suicidal behavior Comprehensive No
Self-Destructive • Suicide
Behavior (Descriptive) • Parasuicide
• Ideation only
• Self-destructive behavior without conscious intent
Teleological (intent/motivation)
• Instrumental
• Cessation
• Unknown/impulse
Rosenberg Operational Criteria for • Suicide Restricted Yes
et al., 1988 the Determination of
Suicide
Lester, 1990 A Classification of Acts • Failed suicide Restricted No
of Attempted Suicide • Deliberate self-harm
• Subintentioned self-harm
• Counterproductive self-harm
• Pseudo self-harm
O’Carroll et al., Suicide-Related • Suicidal ideation Comprehensive Yes
1996 Thoughts and • Suicidal behaviors
Behaviors • Instrumental suicide-related behaviors (ISRB; i.e.;
suicide threat, other ISRB, accidental death associ-
ated with ISRB)
• Suicidal act (suicide attempt, suicide)
Barber et al., Aborted Suicide • Aborted suicide attempt Suicidal behavior to Yes
1998 Attempt be added to existing
classification
Shah, Ganes A Possible Clinical Suicidal intent Restricted Yes
varan, 1999 Classification for the • Ambivalent
Psychopathology of • Concealed
Suicidal Intent • Mixed type
• Continuous type
Table 1. continued
Classification
Author(s), date Name of classification Main categories of classification Type of classification scheme
Brown et al. Classification of • Definite suicide attempt Restricted No
2006 Suicide Attempts and • Possible suicide attempt
Self-Injurious Behavior • Intentional self-injurious Behavior without suicide
intent
• Possible/potential self-injurious behavior without
suicide intent
• Suicide ideation
• Possible suicide ideation
Posner et al., Columbia Classification Suicidal events Comprehensive Yes
2007 Algorithm of Suicide • Completed suicide
Assessment (C-CASA) • Suicide attempt
• Preparatory acts toward imminent suicidal behavior
• Suicidal ideation
Nonsuicidal events
• Self-injurious behavior, no suicidal intent
Other
• No deliberate self-harm
Behaviors
• Preparatory
• Nonsuicidal self-directed violence
• Undetermined self-directed violence
• Suicidal self-directed violence
Fedyszyn et al., Classification O’Carroll et al. (1996) nomenclature items Comprehensive Yes
2012 Algorithm for the • Suicidal Ideation
Determination of • Suicide-related behavior
Suicide Attempt and • Instrumental suicide-related behavior
Suicide (CAD-SAS) • Suicidal act
American Diagnostic and • Suicidal behavior disorder Suicidal behaviors to Yes
Psychiatric Statistical Manual • Nonsuicidal self-injury be added to existing
Association, of Mental Disorders classification
2013 (DSM-V)
World Health International Classifi- Intentional self-poisoning Restricted Yes
Organization, cation of Diseases 10th Intentional self-harm
2016 revision (ICD-10)
victims, and prior attempts/threats/ideation. He also provid- prised nine precisely defined categories and subcategories
ed a classification of intent and motivations as part of the based on available evidence.
teleological dimension. A little more than 10 years later, Posner, Oquendo, Gould,
In 1996, O’Carroll and colleagues (1996) proposed a Stanley, and Davies (2007) elaborated the Columbia Classi-
classification system that they called a nomenclature but fication Algorithm of Suicide Assessment (C-CASA) to ana-
which, however, can be considered a classification as per lyze suicide risk related to antidepressant use in a pediatric
their own definition, cited in the previous section. It com- population. It was clearly aimed at standardized rating and
comprised an exhaustive system of precise categories with a validation process. They distinguished between ambiva-
complete rating guide and training package. Definitions used lent, concealed, mixed type, and continuous type of suicidal
included those of the O’Carroll et al. nomenclature (1996). intent, and defined each one of them.
The same year, Silverman, Berman, Sanddal, O’Carroll, Also, in the field of nonfatal suicidal behavior, Brown,
and Joiner (2007), many of whom were the same authors Jeglic, Henriques, and Beck (2006) proposed what they
as those who developed the O’Carroll et al. (1996) classi- called a classification scheme based on evidence (definite,
fication, elaborated a new classification based on the older uncertain/potential, none) of intent and self-injurious be-
one. It comprised 11 basic categories and subcategories havior. They distinguished definite, possible suicide attempt,
and the most significant change was the addition of a su- intentional self-injurious behavior without suicide intent, pos-
icidal communication category. sible/potential self-injurious behavior without suicide intent,
Brenner et al. (2011) proposed the Self-Directed Violence suicide ideation, and possible suicide ideation. They did not
Classification System (SDVCS) based on the Self-Directed provide their own operational definition of evidence; how-
Violence Surveillance system developed by the American ever, they did recommend use of existing scales.
Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Crosby, Orte- In a more general frame, the 10th revision of the Inter-
ga, & Melanson, 2011). This comprehensive classification national Classification of Diseases (ICD-10, World Health
comprised a set of precisely and operationally defined cat- Organization [WHO], 2016) was adopted in 1990 by the
egories, which were based on those of pre-existing nomen- World Health Assembly and its current version was updat-
clatures (such as by O’Carroll et al., 1996). Matarazzo et al. ed in 2016. The successive versions of ICD-10 from 2003
(2012) later provided a crosswalk between the SDVCS and (second edition) to the current version (2016) included
the C-CASA. purposely self-inflicted poisoning or injury and suicide (at-
Fedyszyn, Harris, Robinson, and Paxton (2012) pro- tempted). Method categories were grouped under intention-
posed the Classification Algorithm for the Determination al self-poisoning and intentional self-harm. The ICD-10 did
of Suicide Attempt and Suicide (CAD-SAS) They provided not provide a set of rules to determine intent or lethality.
a very clear classification scheme comprising precise defi-
nitions (those of O’Carroll et al. 1996) and a set of clas-
sification rules in the form of decision trees. The authors Suicidal Behaviors to Be Added to
explained that their focus was on research. Existing Classifications
Most of the early authors (e.g., Devries, 1968; Cohen, namely, the DSM (APA, 2013) and the ICD (WHO, 2016),
1969; Perr, 1979; Ellis, 1988) pointed to the difficulty did not incorporate any comprehensive classification of su-
of providing an operational definition of suicidal intent icidal behavior. The DSM is a diagnostic manual, which was
or tried to avoid it. Other authors (e.g., Lester, 1990, and specifically designed to help diagnose and classify disor-
Brown et al., 2006) attempted to detail the concept of in- ders. The APA’s two recent proposals incorporated suicidal
tent but provided no direct method to determine it. behavior into disorders (i.e., the suicidal behavior disorder
All other authors (APA, 2013; Barber et al., 1998; Beck and nonsuicidal self-injury). This incorporation could have
et al., 1973; Brenner et al., 2011; Fedyszyn et al., 2012; significant economic consequences, as disorders in DSM
Litman, 1968; O’Carroll et al., 1996; Posner et al., 2007; serve as a reference for American public and private health
Rosenberg et al., 1988; Shah & Ganesvaran, 1999; Sil- insurers, and for drug companies as a basis for pharmaco-
verman et al., 2007) provided a more or less detailed and logical studies. The existing comprehensive classifications
practical method to determine intent in their classifica- of suicidal behaviors aim at organizing a complex reality
tion scheme. A notable exception was the ICD 10 (WHO, made of subtle differences into sets of precisely and uni-
2016), for which no definition of intent was proposed. versally defined categories, not diagnoses. They also aim
at standardizing terminology and definitions, and the field
of suicidology is far from reaching consensus in this area
(Silverman & De Leo, 2016). Thus, the question remains
Discussion as to how one can define a disorder or propose a “condi-
tion for further study” when there is not universal agree-
Taking a chronological perspective suggests that the first ment about how the behaviors that characterize them are
attempts at classification aimed at comprehensiveness on defined. Psychiatric disorders in DSM are supposed to be
a theoretical level, with less emphasis on the operational universal; however, the underlying definitions of suicidal
aspect, as illustrated by Devries’s (1968), Cohen’s (1969), behavior are not.
Perr’s (1979), and Ellis’s (1988) proposals. It would appear The WHO (2016) proposed a classification of self-
that most efforts were concentrated on the organization of poisoning and self-harm essentially on the basis of method
ideas, before drawing direct correlates with observable re- without proposing any definition of intent. This may be the
ality. The notable exception to this was Beck and cowork- only reasonable position in a field of health where there is
ers’ (1973) classification, which clearly aimed at compre- very little consensus. On the other hand, this position does
hensiveness but also at being a practical tool to be used in not favor consensus, and in our view, all efforts should be
research and clinical settings, or at least serving as a basis made to not permanently accept this limited approach to
for developing such tools. classification.
The later-period classifications more regularly included The two main classifications of mental disorders thus
a scheme, pointing to a higher preoccupation with practi- contradict each other on a fundamental level. This preoc-
cality, and with testing the validity of constructs. The de- cupying situation directly relates to the confusion and lack
velopment of these schemes was also significant. From of consensus on definitions and terms in the field of sui-
Beck et al. (1973) to Rosenberg and coworkers’ OCDS cidology. The APA, CDC, FDA, and WHO interest in the
(1988), all the way to the CAD-SAS of Fedyszyn et al. field of classification may help advance scientific validity,
(2012), classification schemes have become more and but it may favor a useless and perilous rush to create classi-
more precise and practical. Some authors concentrated on fications before a universal consensus on underlying con-
single items, others on a restricted part of the whole spec- structs is attained.
trum of suicidal behaviors. Two recent proposals are worth
highlighting, however, as they aimed at both comprehen-
siveness and practicality: the C-CASA (Posner et al., 2007)
and the SDVCS (Brenner et al., 2011). Limitations
The contribution of public administrations was signifi-
cant in the two latter examples. On the one hand, the Amer- The distinction between classifications and nomenclatures
ican FDA helped develop the C-CASA with a focus on sec- has been detailed elsewhere (Goodfellow et al., 2018;
ondary effects of drugs, and on the other the CDC did the O’Carroll et al., 1996). Basically, nomenclatures aim at
same with the SDVCS with the aim of developing efficient communication, and classifications are more detailed and
surveillance systems for the American population. This con- aim at scientific validity. However, some authors use the
tribution could favor the development of valid categories. term nomenclature, others the term classification to de-
On another level, it is significant that the two main clas- scribe their contribution, and their appreciation is some-
sification systems used in mental health around the world, times not quite in line with the above distinction. Indeed,
we included some nomenclatures in this article as per the Electronic Supplementary Material
authors’ own definitions owing to a high level of precision
and the presence of a classification scheme. Nevertheless, The electronic supplementary material is available
we decided to follow the authors’ opinions as much as pos- with the online version of the article at https://doi.
sible and err on the side of inclusivity. Some classifications org/10.1027/0227-5910/a000622
were thus included that could be called nomenclatures as ESM 1. PRISMA flowchart: paper inclusion process
per the definition by O’Carroll et al. (1996).
Our review was limited to descriptive classifications.
Indeed, we realized that classifications based on other as-
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