The bidimensional structure of suicidal symptoms in Nepal

Among 367 people in Nepal, we examined the empirical distinction between the plans versus desire dimensions of suicidality, using confirmatory factor analyses/structural equation modeling. Results were consistent with a distinction between two dimensions of suicidal symptoms. The current study thus affirms the general factorial construct validity of this distinction. By association, it also supports risk assessment procedures based upon this distinction (Joiner, Walker, Rudd et al., 1999). That this occurred using a measure heretofore unexamined in this area, using confirmatory factor analyses, and especially, within a very different cultural context, provides further support for this view. These findings may inform the clinical assessment of suicidal patients.