A 2026 study of youth in Florida juvenile-justice residential programs found that 557 of 1,250 young people who reported a lifetime suicide attempt denied having serious suicidal thoughts or a suicide plan when interviewed at intake. That represented 45% of the group.
The finding does not mean these young people had no suicidal thoughts. The researchers said the study measured whether youth reported serious thoughts or a suicide plan, and did not assess passive or fleeting thoughts. They described the result as showing that suicidal ideation was not reported or identified, rather than proving it was absent.
What the study examined
The analysis used intake records from the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice. Youth received an interview within 30 days of admission using the Residential Positive Achievement Change Tool, or R-PACT.
Among 17,420 youth in the years analyzed, 1,250—about 7%—reported a lifetime suicide attempt. The replication sample had an average age of 16.5 years, with participants ranging from 11 to 19. Sixty-six percent were male, 51% were White, 38% were Black and 11% were Hispanic; 88% had been placed for a felony.
The replication excluded records from 2009 through 2012 used in an earlier study. In that original sample of 427 youth, 171, or 40%, denied suicidal ideation. Because the newer analysis used different youth from the same state system, interview tool and research team, it was a replication across years rather than an independent test in a new setting.
Anger was more common in the no-ideation group
Anger or irritability was recorded in 40% of youth who denied serious suicidal thoughts or a plan, compared with 30% of those who reported ideation. After adjustment for other factors, anger or irritability was associated with higher odds of a reported suicide attempt without reported ideation. The odds ratio was 1.43, with a 95% confidence interval of 1.12 to 1.83.
This was a group-level association, not a way to identify which individual young person will attempt suicide. The researchers also cautioned that the data cannot show whether a rapid anger-or-distress pathway came before an attempt. The records captured lifetime histories at one intake rather than the hours or days preceding an attempt.
A history of depression was common in both groups: 80% of youth who denied ideation and 89% of those who reported it. The no-ideation group had lower reported rates of somatic complaints, hallucinations, physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect and witnessing violence. After adjustment, abuse and neglect were no longer significant, while witnessing violence was at the edge of significance.
Why screening questions may not be enough
The findings suggest that a screening process based mainly on affirmative answers to direct suicidal-ideation questions could miss some youth who later report an attempt. The researchers suggested that assessing anger could supplement other risk signals, but not replace them.
The result is consistent with uncertainty described in other studies cited by the researchers. A 2022 survey of 6,200 U.S. adults found that 36% of people with a lifetime suicide attempt denied ever having active suicidal thoughts. When passive thoughts were included, 11% denied any suicidal thinking. In a separate 2026 study of 80 adolescents receiving phone check-ins five times daily for two weeks, 35% to 41% of those who reported suicidal thoughts during check-ins later denied having had any when questioned by survey or interview.
These comparisons do not establish that the same pattern occurs in every population. The Florida study involved youth in residential juvenile-justice programs, and its results may not apply to young people outside that setting.
Important limits of the evidence
- The study was cross-sectional and relied on lifetime reports recorded at a single intake.
- The reported attempts were self-reported; their number, severity and timing were not analyzed.
- Depression, anger and abuse histories were recorded as yes-or-no case-manager judgments, not diagnostic interviews or validated scales.
- The interview assessed serious suicidal thoughts and suicide plans, but not passive or fleeting thoughts in the reported measure.
- The study cannot determine whether suicidal thoughts were absent, unreported or simply not captured by the questions.
- The percentage and associated patterns may differ in other states, settings or groups of young people.
The findings support a broader approach to suicide-risk assessment, especially in settings where young people may not disclose or recognize suicidal thinking. They do not show that anger alone predicts an attempt, or that a single screening result can establish a young person’s level of risk.
If there is an immediate concern that someone may attempt suicide, contact local emergency services or the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
AI tools were used to assist with the preparation of this article.
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