Adolescent Behavioral Health Outcomes of Child Welfare Involved Youth with and Without Childhood Suicidal Ideation

We examined whether child welfare-involved children aged 7-11 with suicidal ideation (SI) experience worse adolescent behavioral health compared to peers without SI. Using longitudinal data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Wellbeing I and II (N = 1,641), propensity score weighting balanced baseline characteristics. We compared groups on adolescent outcomes (ages 12-15) from youth and caregiver reports. Children with SI at ages 7-11 had twice the odds of adolescent SI and four times the odds of self-reported self-injury, though caregiver reports did not confirm the latter. No significant differences emerged for other behavioral health outcomes. Thus, child welfare-involved youth showing SI early face elevated risk for persistent SI and self-injury, even after controlling for maltreatment and prior symptoms. These findings highlight the need for early identification and monitoring of SI, and for further research on underlying mechanisms, informant discrepancies, and replication.