Examining the Role of Item Sequencing of the Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire-15

The Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire (INQ) is a 15-item self-report assessment of perceived burdensomeness (PB) and thwarted belongingness (TB), conceptualized as proximal risk factors for suicide ideation (SI). The INQ-15 has strong psychometric properties; however, PB has demonstrated more robust associations with SI than TB.

To assess the possible influence of INQ-15 item sequencing, confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) were conducted to examine the two-factor structure of the INQ-15 (TB and PB) among participants (N = 600, 50.5% women, 66.8% White, M_age = 38.8 years) recruited via Amazon Mechanical Turk who were randomized into three item sequence conditions (standard-order, n = 192; reversed-order, n = 210; random-order, n = 198).

Across all conditions, TB items 9, 11, and 12 raised model-fit concerns. Model fit improved after correlating residuals and removing those items across conditions. The TB-PB correlations were weaker than those reported in prior literature, even after removing those items. The conditions and models did not differ in their associations with TB and PB, or with SI-related variables.

Removing TB items 9, 11, and 12 could optimize the INQ-15 factor structure and improve its concurrent validity; however, replication in additional populations and with other sampling methods is necessary.