Assessing Crisis Chat Visitors' Capacity to Regulate Thoughts Related to Suicide

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Mental Health Research

Background:

• Regulation of suicidal thoughts refers to an individual's perceived ability to control cognitive and affective processes linked to suicide.
• Difficulty in regulating suicidal thoughts is associated with increased suicidal ideation, intentions, attempts, and overall suicide risk.

Purpose of the Study:

• To validate the Regulation of Suicidal Thoughts Scale (RSTS) for use by counselors.
• To provide counselors with a tool to assess chat visitors' capacity to regulate suicidal thoughts.

Main Methods:

• The study evaluated the validity and reliability of the RSTS using two distinct samples (N=1,162 and N=241).
• Statistical analyses were employed to assess the scale's psychometric properties and its predictive utility.

Main Results:

• All items on the RSTS demonstrated correlation with the construct of regulating suicidal thoughts.
• The RSTS was found to predict perceived certainty to attempt suicide.
• A significant decrease in the ability to control suicidal thoughts from pre-chat to post-chat (Cohen's d = 0.91) supported the scale's construct and criterion validity.
• Enhanced regulation of suicidal thoughts was inversely related to certainty of suicide attempts.

Conclusions:

• The RSTS is a validated tool that counselors can utilize to assess clients' regulation of suicidal thoughts.
• Pre-chat RSTS scores can inform counselors in tailoring interventions to address specific cognitive and affective aspects of suicidal ideation.