The development of the digital coercion scale (DCS) and its association with suicide crisis syndrome (SCS)

As internet and social network use have risen, rates of anxiety, depression, and suicide have increased. Loss of autonomy and difficulty disengaging from technology may contribute to suicide vulnerability, but no measure currently captures this experience. To address this gap, we developed the Digital Coercion Scale (DCS) to measure perceived loss of autonomy related to ubiquitous technology. Eighty-nine psychiatric inpatients completed the DCS. Reliability was evaluated using Cronbach's α and item-total correlations. Construct validity was assessed through correlations with established scales for depression, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder, questions about social media use, and links to suicide risk through the Revised Suicide Crisis Inventory (SCI-2) and Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS). Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) identified the scale's structure. The DCS demonstrated strong internal consistency (α = 0.925) and item-scale correlations (r = 0.418 to 0.736). EFA identified a five-factor structure, explaining 65.4% of variance. DCS scores were significantly correlated with depression, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, and the SCI-2 (r = 0.342 to 0.682), and two social media items significantly differed by DCS score. DCS correlated with SCI-2 subscales (ρ = 0.216 to 0.325), with the strongest associations observed for Entrapment, Affective Disturbance, and Social Withdrawal. Social Withdrawal (β = .48, p = .005) and PHQ-9 depression scores (β = .44, p = .009) were independently associated with DCS scores, together explaining 66.6% of the variance. DCS was unrelated to suicidal ideation. Findings provide preliminary support the DCS as a reliable, valid measure of perceived digital coercion and associated psychological distress.