In suicide risk assessment, which set of factors is typically evaluated?

• A. Lethality, intent, plan, means, previous attempts, protective factors, and immediate risk
• B. Age and race
• C. Gender
• D. Income

Answer: (A)

In suicide risk assessment, you’re looking for factors that tell you how imminent and how lethal the danger is, as well as what might mitigate it. The key elements are the person’s lethality of potential actions, their explicit intent, whether there is a concrete plan, and whether they have access to means. Past behavior matters too: a history of previous attempts strongly informs risk. At the same time, you assess protective factors that can reduce risk, such as social support, coping skills, and reasons for living. Finally, you evaluate immediate risk—the current crisis level, impulsivity, intoxication, or acute stressors that could push someone toward acting soon.

This combination—how dangerous the plan could be, the person’s intent and plan, access to means, history of attempts, protective factors, and current immediacy of risk—provides a comprehensive picture to guide safety planning and intervention. Demographic factors like age, race, gender, or income may influence risk in population terms, but they don’t by themselves determine current risk or guide immediate safety actions the way the dynamic factors listed above do.