TY - JOUR PY - 2018// TI - Why suicide? The analysis of motives for self-harm JO - Behavioural and cognitive psychotherapy A1 - Abbas, Mohammed J. A1 - Mohanna, Mostafa A. A1 - Diab, Tarig A. A1 - Chikoore, Millicent A1 - Wang, Michael SP - 209 EP - 225 VL - 46 IS - 2 N2 - BACKGROUND: There is a gap in understanding the meaning and motives behind suicidal behaviour. Using the Ideal Type methodology, Jean Baechler systematically examined the internal logic of suicidal and self-harming behaviours. He developed a typology of eleven typical meanings/motives: Flight, Grief, Self-punishment, Vengeance, Crime, Blackmail, Appeal, Sacrifice, Transfiguration, Ordeal and Game. AIMS: To develop and validate a standardized instrument to measure the motives/meanings of suicidal and self-harming behaviours, using Baechler's typology.

METHOD: We developed a self-fill Likert questionnaire (Ideal Typical Meaning Questionnaire, ITMQ) covering ten of Baechler's eleven types. The questionnaire was completed by 147 patients within four weeks of attempting suicide or self-harm. The Death Attitude Profile-Revised (DAP-R) questionnaire was used to examine the concurrent validity of the Flight and the Transfiguration types and to explore the association between suicidal/self-harming motives and views about death.

RESULTS: The final 25-item ITMQ has an eight-factor structure (Appeal/Blackmail, Ordeal/Game, Vengeance, Self-punishment, Sacrifice, Flight, Grief and Transfiguration) supporting Baechler's theory. The types have adequate reliability. Correlations with the DAP-R gave some support for the concurrent validity of the Flight and Transfiguration types.

CONCLUSIONS: The ITMQ is a measure of suicidal and self-harming motives/meanings based on a sound conceptual framework and could significantly contribute to the understanding of suicidal and self-harming behaviour in research and clinical settings.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 1352-4658 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S135246581700042X ID - ref1 ER -