Measuring the suicidal mind: The 'open source' Suicidality Scale, for adolescents and adults

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry and Psychology
• Psychometric Instrument Development
• Public Health

Background:

• Accurate suicide risk assessment is critical, especially in emergency settings, but existing tools often lack necessary psychometric rigor.
• There is a need for a reliable, valid, and accessible suicide risk assessment tool for diverse populations.
• Current assessment instruments may not meet the demands for accuracy and utility in clinical practice.

Approach:

• Developed a publicly available Suicidality Scale (SS) using a sustainable, community-informed approach.
• Conducted an international item pool survey with 5,115 participants (aged 13-82) and subsequent validation surveys (Ns = 814, 626).
• Employed rigorous statistical analyses including item response theory, cluster, factor, and bifactor analyses to refine the scale.

Key Points:

• The final eight-item Suicidality Scale (SS) demonstrated strong psychometric properties (e.g., high loadings, discrimination, test-retest reliability r = .87, internal consistency ω = .96).
• The SS exhibited measurement invariance across various demographic and clinical subgroups, ensuring broad applicability.
• The scale showed superior psychometric performance and stronger associations with depressive symptoms compared to existing suicide measures.

Conclusions:

• The 'open source' Suicidality Scale (SS) offers a significant advancement in accurate suicide risk assessment for individuals aged 13 and older.
• The study exemplifies sustainable scale development, integrating community input and robust psychometric validation for diverse samples.
• The SS provides a free-to-use, highly reliable, and valid instrument for clinicians, researchers, and public health initiatives.