Development of the Frequency of Suicidal Ideation Inventory: Evidence for the Validity and Reliability of a Brief Measure of Suicidal Ideation Frequency in a College Student Population

Abstract The present research focused on the development of a brief measure of suicidal ideation frequency, namely, the Frequency of Suicidal Ideation Inventory (FSII). Study 1 examined the latent structure of the FSII in a sample of 399 US college students. Results of exploratory factor analysis indicated a one-factor solution accounting for 86.96 % of the variance. Study 2 provided support for the internal reliability of the FSII across four different international samples (viz., US, Turkey, Hungary, and China). Within the US sample, the FSII was found to possess good 6-week test–retest reliability. Moreover, an examination of the associations between the FSII and important measures of suicide risk factors (e.g., suicidal behaviors) and suicide protective factors (e.g., flourishing) provided support for the construct validity of our new measure in an independent sample of 143 US college students. In addition, we found preliminary evidence supporting the FSII as a useful measure of the likelihood of making a future suicide attempt and evidence for the utility of the FSII over established measures of suicide risk in predicting depressive symptoms. Overall, the present findings provide promising evidence for the validity and reliability of the FSII as a brief measure of SI frequency in adults.
Source: Cognitive Therapy and Research - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research