Clinical Confidence in Risk Assessments of Suicidal Clients: An Intervention Study.
This paper reports on factors associated with clinician confidence in the assessment of suicide risk and the ability of an educational intervention aimed at improving decision-making in experienced clinicians to influence clinical confidence. Two aspects of clinical confidence were considered: (1) o...
| Published in: | Clinical Social Work Journal Vol. 54; no. 1; pp. 32 - 44 |
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| Main Authors: | , |
| Format: | Article |
| Published: |
Springer Nature
Mar2026
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=191073256&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 191073256 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00911674 CSW jtl: Clinical Social Work Journal issn: 00911674 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Mar2026 vid: 54 iid: 1 pid: 237 pub: Springer Nature artinfo: ui: 191073256 10.1007/s10615-024-00965-8 ppf: 32 ppct: 12 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 1.3MB tig: atl: Clinical Confidence in Risk Assessments of Suicidal Clients: An Intervention Study. aug: au: Regehr, Cheryl Birze, Arija affil: https://ror.org/03dbr7087 Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto, 27 King's College Circle, M5S1A1, Toronto, ON, Canada https://ror.org/03v6a2j28 Institute for Better Health, Trillium Health Partners, Mississauga, ON, Canada su: Suicide risk factors Mental health services Psychological burnout Hospital care Confidence Quantitative research Suicide Psychological stress Education of physicians Risk assessment Digital technology Statistical correlation Psychology of physicians Scale analysis (Psychology) T-test (Statistics) Research funding Questionnaires Decision making in clinical medicine Physicians' attitudes Wearable technology Descriptive statistics Pre-tests & post-tests State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Longitudinal method Heart beat Clinical competence Research Physiological stress Data analysis software Patient monitoring sug: subj: Suicide risk factors Mental health services Psychological burnout Hospital care Confidence Quantitative research Suicide Psychological stress Offices of Mental Health Practitioners (except Physicians) Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Hospitals Residential Mental Health and Substance Abuse Facilities Offices of physicians Offices of Physicians (except Mental Health Specialists) Education of physicians Risk assessment Digital technology Statistical correlation Psychology of physicians Scale analysis (Psychology) T-test (Statistics) Research funding Questionnaires Decision making in clinical medicine Physicians' attitudes Wearable technology Descriptive statistics Pre-tests & post-tests State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Longitudinal method Heart beat Clinical competence Research Physiological stress Data analysis software Patient monitoring keyword: Clinical confidence Clinical performance Decision-making Psychology and Cognitive Sciences Psychology Medical and Health Sciences Public Health and Health Services Suicide risk assessment Clinical confidence Clinical performance Decision-making Psychology and Cognitive Sciences Psychology Medical and Health Sciences Public Health and Health Services Suicide risk assessment ab: This paper reports on factors associated with clinician confidence in the assessment of suicide risk and the ability of an educational intervention aimed at improving decision-making in experienced clinicians to influence clinical confidence. Two aspects of clinical confidence were considered: (1) outcome-based confidence regarding the ultimate decision whether or not the client required hospitalization due to suicide risk; and (2) process-based confidence regarding clinician performance during an interview. The intervention combined: risk assessment interviews with simulated clients; classroom-based education on decision-making science; practice-based self-monitoring with the aid of wearable technology; and classroom-based group and individual opportunities to engage in discussions regarding clinical decision-making. Results revealed that while there was wide variability in clinician decisions regarding hospitalization, participants were equally confident in their suicide risk assessment process and clinical performance regardless of the final decision. Confidence in clinical decision-making was negatively associated with psychological stress and physiological stress, as well as emotional exhaustion on the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and positively associated with the personal achievement scale of the MBI. Confidence in clinical performance was negatively associated with psychological stress and both emotional exhaustion and depersonalization on the MBI. Confidence in clinical decision-making did not significantly increase following the educational intervention, however, there were some modest increases in confidence in clinical performance that approached statistical significance. These findings raise new questions regarding clinical confidence, separating different aspects of clinical confidence and investigating further the association between clinical confidence and client outcomes in social work. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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