A Comparison of Commonly Used Suicide Risk Scales

Suicidal ideation can be common in adolescents, with 6-month prevalence as high as 24% and a lifetime rate of about 29% (Fergusson, Woodward, & Howard, 2000). As such, screeners for depression are critical components of mental health treatment. The current study compared concurrent validity of a brief suicidality screener, the depressive symptoms index (DSI; Joiner, Pfaff, & Acres, 2002) and a broadband measure of personality and psychopathology, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2-RF; Ben-Porath & Tellegen, 2008/2011). Participants were gathered from undergraduate students at WCU who were enrolled in a general psychology class; 197 participants were collected for the study and completed the DSI and MMPI-2-RF via Qualtrics. There were strong Pearson r correlations between the DSI total and the suicidal/death ideation scale on the MMPI-2-RF, as well as theoretically similar constructs, such as demoralization. Results suggest the DSI has strong validity in measuring suicidal ideation and has some differentiation between suicidal ideation and other symptoms of depression, such as anhedonic symptoms. This project was reviewed and approved by the Western Carolina University Institutional Review Board