Measuring Suicide Risk Without Asking About Suicide? Psychache Scale Score Validation and Cut Score Development in a...

Area of Science:

• Psychological assessment
• Military mental health
• Suicidology

Background:

• Suicide risk assessment in military populations is critical.
• The Psychache Scale (PAS) is a self-report measure designed to assess psychological pain.
• Subtle screening for pre-existing suicide risk factors is needed.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the Psychache Scale's (PAS) ability to screen for suicide risk factors in Canadian military personnel.
• To establish normative data for the PAS in this population.
• To assess the validity and diagnostic accuracy of the PAS.

Main Methods:

• 525 Canadian military personnel completed the self-report Psychache Scale (PAS).
• PAS scores were analyzed for internal consistency reliability.
• Convergent validity was assessed using a measure of suicidality.
• Diagnostic accuracy was evaluated for identifying past suicide attempts and communications.

Main Results:

• PAS scores demonstrated high internal consistency reliability.
• PAS scores showed large effect sizes and convergent validity with suicidality measures.
• The PAS exhibited significant diagnostic accuracy in identifying individuals with multiple suicide intent communications and multiple suicide attempts.
• Preliminary cut scores for at-risk military personnel were established.

Conclusions:

• The Psychache Scale (PAS) is a reliable and valid tool for screening suicide risk factors in military personnel.
• The PAS demonstrates significant diagnostic accuracy for identifying behavioral risk factors associated with suicide.
• The study provides preliminary cut scores to aid in identifying at-risk military individuals.