Development and Validity of the Personal Suicide Stigma Questionnaire (PSSQ)
A New Tool to Assess Stigmatization Among Those Who Are Suicidal
Abstract
Abstract.Background: The detrimental consequences of stigma have been recognized in extensive research on mental illness stigma, but experiences of suicide-related stigmatization have not received sufficient research attention. The lack of a simple self-report assessment of personal suicide-related stigma led to the work reported here. Aim: To develop and assess the validity of the Personal Suicide Stigma Questionnaire (PSSQ). Method: The item pool for PSSQ was based on qualitative data and was tested in a community sample of 224 adults (mean age = 32.68 years, 83% female, 92.9% Caucasian) who reported lifetime suicidality. Factor analysis was used for item selection. The Self-Stigma of Mental Illness Scale – Short form (SSMIS-SF) and Suicide Behaviors Questionnaire – Revised (SBQ-R) were used to assess validity of the scale. Results: Following analysis, 16 items, forming three highly interrelated factors (Rejection, Minimization, and Self-blame), were selected for the PSSQ. The PSSQ scores showed predicted relationships with mental illness stigma and suicidality, suggesting its validity. Limitations: The validity of the scale still requires further research in clinical populations. Conclusion: The newly developed PSSQ can be used to assess the levels of suicide-related stigma experiences of suicidal individuals.
References
2013). The Stigma of Suicide Scale: Psychometric properties and correlates of the stigma of suicide. Crisis, 34(1), 13–21. 10.1027/0227-5910/a000156
(2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. 10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
(2010). Experiences of mental illness stigma, prejudice and discrimination: A review of measures. BMC Health Services Research, 10(1), 1–11. 10.1186/1472-6963-10-80
(1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. Hillsdale, NJ: L. Erlbaum Associates.
(1992). A first course in factor analysis. Hillsdale, NJ: Psychology Press.
(2005). The stigma of mental illness: Explanatory models and methods for change. Applied and Preventive Psychology, 11(3), 179–190. 10.1016/j.appsy.2005.07.001
(2012). Self-stigma of mental illness scale—short form: Reliability and validity. Psychiatry Research, 199(1), 65–69. 10.1016/j.psychres.2012.04.009
(2017). Making sense of the public stigma of suicide: Factor analyses of its stereotypes, prejudices, and discriminations. Crisis, 1–9. 10.1027/0227-5910/a000456
. (2011). DSM-V and the future of suicidology. Crisis, 32(5), 233–239. 10.1027/0227-5910/a000128
(2016). Perceptions of suicide stigma: How do social networks and treatment providers compare? Crisis, 37(2), 95–103. 10.1027/0227-5910/a000358
(1950). Theory of mental tests. New York, NY: Wiley.
(2017). The MBESS R package version 4.4.1. Retrieved from https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=MBESS
(2013). Calculation for the test of the difference between two dependent correlations with one variable in common [Computer software]. Retrieved from http://quantpsy.org
(1989). A modified labeling theory approach to mental disorders: An empirical assessment. American Sociological Review, 54(3), 400–423. 10.2307/2095613
(2001). Conceptualizing stigma. Annual Review of Sociology, 27, 363–385. 10.2307/2678626
(2013). Why the items versus parcels controversy needn't be one. Psychological Methods, 18(3), 285–300. 10.1037/a0033266
(2010). Correlates and consequences of internalized stigma for people living with mental illness: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Social Science & Medicine, 71(12), 2150–2161. 10.1016/j.socscimed.2010.09.030
(2008). Reliability of a composite measure of social inclusion for people with psychiatric disabilities. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 55(1), 47–56. 10.1111/j.1440-1630.2007.00656.x
(1968). Statistical theories of mental test scores. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
(1999). Test theory: A unified approach. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
(2017, May 29). Thanks coefficient alpha, we'll take it from here. Psychological Methods. Advance online publication. 10.1037/met0000144
(2001). The Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised (SBQ-R): Validation with clinical and nonclinical samples. Assessment, 8(4), 443–454. 10.1177/107319110100800409
(2013). The public stigma of mental illness: What do we think; what do we know; what can we prove? Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 54(1), 1–21. 10.1177/0022146512471197
(2009). Coefficients alpha, beta, omega, and the glb: Comments on Sijtsma. Psychometrika, 74, 145–154.
(2015). Personal stigma in suicide attempters. Death Studies, 39(10), 592–599. 10.1080/07481187.2015.1037972
(2012). The gender paradox in suicidal behavior and its impact on the suicidal process. Journal of Affective Disorders, 138(1–2), 19–26. 10.1016/j.jad.2011.03.050
(2012). Stigma of Suicide Attempt (STOSA) scale and Stigma of Suicide and Suicide Survivor (STOSASS) scale: Two new assessment tools. Psychiatry Research, 200(2–3), 872–878. 10.1016/j.psychres.2012.06.033
(2017). Stigma and psychological distress in suicide survivors. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 94, 39–46. 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2016.12.016
(2016). Psychological distress increases perceived stigma toward attempted suicide among those with a history of past attempted suicide. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 204(3), 194–202. 10.1097/NMD.0000000000000457
(2017). Stakeholder perspectives on the stigma of suicide attempt survivors. Crisis, 38(2), 73–81. 10.1027/0227-5910/a000413
. (2017). The specificity of public stigma: A comparison of suicide and depression-related stigma. Psychiatry Research, 256, 40–45. 10.1016/j.psychres.2017.06.015
(2011). Psychological and social correlates of HIV status disclosure: The significance of stigma visibility. AIDS Education and Prevention, 23(4), 382–392. 10.1521/aeap.2011.23.4.382
(2013). Using multivariate statistics (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
(1986). Comparison of five rules for determining the number of components to retain. Psychological Bulletin, 99(3), 432–442.
(