Validating a short version of the Suicide Intent Scale in China

As Beck's Suicide Intent Scale (SIS) gains popularity in various areas in the world, we are not sure whether the scale is an optimal measure of suicide intent in the Chinese culture. This study is to provide evidence to support the use of the Chinese shortened version of SIS (C-SIS) in Chinese societies. The data were from applying the C-SIS in a psychological autopsy (PA) study of 66 suicides in Dalian, China. Reliability and validity tests were performed on the C-SIS data. Internal consistency analysis showed excellent correlation coefficients for all items but one. Inter-rater reliability tests showed statistically significant correlations between each pair of informants for each item and for the total scores. Criterion validity analysis demonstrated a relatively high correlation between the scores on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) and C-SIS. Factor analysis produced three factors accounting for 66.77% of the total variance. The study suggested that C-SIS should be an appropriate instrument for detecting and measuring suicide intent in Chinese societies.