Measurement Invariance of the Short Defeat and Entrapment Scale

The integrated-motivational volitional model of suicide hypothesizes that suicidal ideation emerges due to experiences of defeat and entrapment. The Short Defeat and Entrapment Scale (SDES), which could be used to test this hypothesis, has not been evaluated for measurement invariance.

Participants (N = 1,885) completed self-report assessments at baseline and at follow-up (one week later). Measurement invariance was tested across subgroups, which included comparison of gender (cisgender men compared to cisgender women), race and ethnicity (Non-Hispanic White, Non-Hispanic Black/African American, Non-Hispanic Asian American, and Hispanic), sexuality (heterosexual compared to sexual minority), and suicide attempt history (participants with and without a lifetime suicide attempt).

Both the one-factor and two-factor solutions of the SDES demonstrated full configural, metric, and scalar invariance across gender, race, sexuality, and suicide attempt history.

The SDES may be used to assess both defeat/entrapment across all subgroups present in this study. Prior research has suggested that experiences of defeat and entrapment may differ between racial and ethnic groups and those who hold a marginalized sexual or gender identity, and this study supports the use of the SDES as a measure of defeat and entrapment of which you could make group-based comparisons among individuals who identify as heterosexual, a sexual minority, White, Black, Asian American, cisgender women, cisgender men, and those with and without a lifetime suicide attempt.