TY - JOUR
T1 - A Factor Analysis of the Suicide Cognitions Scale in Veterans with Military Sexual Trauma-Related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
AU - Wiblin, Jessica
AU - Holder, Nicholas
AU - Holliday, Ryan
AU - Jeon-Slaughter, Haekyung
AU - LePage, James
AU - Surís, Alina
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by a grant awarded to Dr. Surís by the VA Rehabilitation Research & Development Services (grant number D4445-R); NCT00371644 at clinicaltrials.govVA Rehabilitation Research & Development Services [D4445-R];
Publisher Copyright:
© This work was authored as part of the Contributor’s official duties as an Employee of the United States Government and is therefore a work of the United States Government. In accordance with 17 USC. 105, no copyright protection is available for such works under US Law.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - The Suicide Cognitions Scale (SCS) assesses suicide-specific cognitions which may drive suicide risk. Nonetheless, prior work has been mixed regarding optimal factor structure. Additionally, this measure has not been validated for use with veterans with military sexual trauma-related posttraumatic stress disorder (MST-related PTSD), a population that is at elevated risk for suicidal self-directed violence (SDV). This study sought to determine the optimal factor structure of the SCS for use with veterans with MST-related PTSD as well as its psychometric properties. An exploratory factor analysis revealed a four-factor structure, including unlovability, unbearability, unsolvability, and negative urgency. The SCS also demonstrated excellent internal consistency and good convergent validity. This study identified a novel factor, negative urgency, which may explain some of the predictive power of the SCS found in previous research. This paper provides initial support for a four-factor structure of the SCS among those with MST-related PTSD. Additional work remains necessary in evaluating the SCS as a tool for detecting risk for future suicidal SDV among veterans with MST-related PTSD.
AB - The Suicide Cognitions Scale (SCS) assesses suicide-specific cognitions which may drive suicide risk. Nonetheless, prior work has been mixed regarding optimal factor structure. Additionally, this measure has not been validated for use with veterans with military sexual trauma-related posttraumatic stress disorder (MST-related PTSD), a population that is at elevated risk for suicidal self-directed violence (SDV). This study sought to determine the optimal factor structure of the SCS for use with veterans with MST-related PTSD as well as its psychometric properties. An exploratory factor analysis revealed a four-factor structure, including unlovability, unbearability, unsolvability, and negative urgency. The SCS also demonstrated excellent internal consistency and good convergent validity. This study identified a novel factor, negative urgency, which may explain some of the predictive power of the SCS found in previous research. This paper provides initial support for a four-factor structure of the SCS among those with MST-related PTSD. Additional work remains necessary in evaluating the SCS as a tool for detecting risk for future suicidal SDV among veterans with MST-related PTSD.
KW - Military sexual trauma
KW - posttraumatic stress disorder
KW - suicide-specific cognitions
KW - veteran
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U2 - 10.1080/15299732.2020.1869643
DO - 10.1080/15299732.2020.1869643
M3 - Article
C2 - 33460353
AN - SCOPUS:85099577083
SN - 1529-9732
VL - 22
SP - 319
EP - 331
JO - Journal of Trauma and Dissociation
JF - Journal of Trauma and Dissociation
IS - 3
ER -