Validity and reliability of a Chinese language suicide screening questionnaire-observer rating (CL-SSQ-OR) assessment for children/adolescents

Abstract

BackgroundA Suicide Screening Questionnaire-Observer Rating (SSQ-OR) has been used to assess risk of suicide among individuals and to help clinicians identify and rescue individuals attempting suicide. To prevent the risk of suicide in China, a Chinese language SSQ-OR (CL-SSQ-OR) needs to be introduced.ObjectiveTo test the validity and reliability of a CL-SSQ-OR.MethodA total of 250 individuals were enrolled in this study. Each completed a CL-SSQ-OR assessment, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, and the Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was adopted to determine structural validity. Spearman correlation coefficients were adopted to determine criterion validity. An internal correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to test inter-consistency and Cronbach’s α coefficient was used to test split-half reliability.ResultsCFA was conducted with use of the maximum variance method to evaluate the item results. All of the items received scores >0.40. In addition, good model fit indices were observed for the two-factor structure RMSEA = 0.046, TLI = 0.965, CFI = 0.977. The items’ factor loading of the CL-SSQ-OR in the first factor ranged from 0.443 to 0.878. The items’ factor loading of the CL-SSQ-OR in the second factor ranged from 0.400 to 0.810. The ICC of the total CL-SSQ-OR was 0.855. Cronbach’s α was 0.873.ConclusionThe CL-SSQ-OR described here demonstrates ideal psychometric properties and is found to be a suitable tool for screening Chinese children/adolescents who are at risk of suicide.

Suicide Risk Assessment in a Modern Asian Adolescent Community: A Cultural-relevant Perspective

“…Indeed, there is a lack of consensus over diagnostic criteria, an absence of culturally appropriate norms, and a dearth of cultural validity in the assessment (Chang & Koh, 2012). Recent research examined the validity and reliability of a Chinese language suicide screening questionnaire-observer rating (CL-SSQ-OR) assessment for children and youth (Yu et al, 2023). However, this research largely considered the linguistic equivalence of assessment scale items in Chinese culture and did not integrate socio-cultural relevant constructs such as major depressive symptoms, interpersonal and psychosomatic constructs which had been found to be a precursor to suicide, and predictive of suicide.…”