The Malay Literacy of Suicide Scale: A Rasch Model Validation and Its Correlation with Mental Health Literacy among Malaysian Parents, Caregivers and Teachers

Abstract

The 27-item Literacy of Suicide Scale (LOSS) is a test designed to measure the respondent’s suicide knowledge. The purpose of this study is to examine the psychometric properties of the Malay-translated version of the LOSS (M-LOSS) and its association to sociodemographic factors and mental health literacy. The 27-item LOSS was forward–backward translated into Malay, and the content and face validities were assessed. The version was distributed to 750 respondents across West Malaysia. Rasch model analysis was then conducted to assess the scale’s psychometric properties. The validated M-LOSS and the Malay version of the Mental Health Knowledge Schedule (MAKS-M) were then distributed to 867 respondents to evaluate their level of suicide literacy, mental health literacy, and their correlation. Upon Rasch analysis, 26 items were retained. The scale was found to be unidimensional, with generally satisfying separation and reliability indexes. Sex, socio-economic status, and experience in mental health were found to significantly impact the mean score for mental health literacy. This study also found a significant mean difference for suicide literacy across school types. Furthermore, while this study observed a weak but significant negative correlation between age and suicide literacy, no correlation was found between mental health and suicide literacy.

Title page: psychometric properties of literacy of suicide scale (LOSS) in iranian population: long form

“…In a study, the Malaysian version of the LOSS with the Rasch model was validated with a one-dimensional scale and 26 items [18]. The difference in dimensionality can be attributed to the model used, since one of the assumptions of the model is that it is one-dimensional.…”

“…Studies that investigated the process of suicide and its death over five years in southern Iran showed that the suicide process had increased during the period under investigation in the general population [39] as well as adolescents [40], and the elderly [41]. Therefore, given the importance of the suicide and the use of this tool in other countries [18,20,23], this valid and reliable instrument can be used to determine the status of suicide literacy of the Iranian population and take necessary preventive programs if needed.…”

“…Appropriate tools are needed in order to examine individual conditions in different domains and to design and implement appropriate educational and interventional programs [18]. In Iran, no instrument was observed to examine the state of suicide literacy.…”

Traducción y validez del Literacy of Suicide Scale Short Form en población peruana

“…Originalmente fue creado a partir de 26 ítems, pero los propios autores posteriormente sugirieron una versión breve de 12 ítems (LOSS-SF). Este último ha sido motivo de diferentes traducciones y validaciones psicométricas en países como Brasil, Turquía, Malasia, Jordania, Bangladés y China (Aldalaykeh, Dalky, Shahrour & Rababa, 2020;Arafat, Hussain, Hossain, Islam & Menon, 2021;Figueredo Campos, Márcia de Almeida, Faria Cunha & Saldanha-Silva, 2020;Han et al, 2017;Phoa et al, 2022;Öztürk & Akin, 2018). De acuerdo a los antecedentes, cuatro países realizaron la validación de la versión breve de 12 ítems del LOSS-SF, mientras que solo dos analizaron la versión extensa de 26 ítems.…”

“…De acuerdo a los antecedentes, cuatro países realizaron la validación de la versión breve de 12 ítems del LOSS-SF, mientras que solo dos analizaron la versión extensa de 26 ítems. Además, la población objetivo de estudio fue mayormente estudiantes universitarios de diferentes carreras profesionales (Aldalaykeh et al, 2020;Arafat et al, 2021;Figueredo Campos et al, 2020;Han et al, 2017;Öztürk & Akin, 2018) y solo dos estudios se basaron en población general con educación superior (Figueredo Campos et al, 2020) y padres de familia, cuidadores y docentes de nivel de secundaria (Phoa et al, 2022). Respecto al enfoque estadístico utilizado, solo un estudio utilizó la teoría de respuesta al ítem (TRI) para abordar las propiedades psicométricas (Phoa et al, 2022), mientras que el resto de investigaciones solo se enfocó en la validez de contenido, y solo dos estudios emplearon medidas de correlación, especialmente con el estigma del suicidio, para la validez basada en relación a otras variables (Arafat et al, 2021;Öztürk & Akin, 2018).…”