TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2022//
TI  - A psychometric assessment of the Military Suicide Attitudes Questionnaire (MSAQ)
JO  - Psychiatry research
A1  - Cramer, Robert J.
A1  - Montanaro, Erika
A1  - VanSickle, Marcus
A1  - Cacace, Sam
A1  - Zabelski, Sasha
A1  - Smith, Emily L.
A1  - Franks, Michael
A1  - Grover, Shawna
A1  - Cunningham, Craig A.
SP  - e114849
EP  - e114849
VL  - 317
IS  - 
N2  - Suicide rates remain high among military populations. Stigmatizing beliefs about suicide contribute to the problem of heightened suicide risk as a deterrent for help-seeking. Measurement of military suicide stigma is therefore an important gap in the literature as a necessity toward the development of military suicide prevention programming. This paper assessed the factor structure, reliability, and validity of the Military Suicide Attitudes Questionnaire (MSAQ). Study 1 featured secondary analysis of a suicide risk dataset from active duty treatment-seeking military personnel (N = 200). Study 2 was a secondary analysis of a statewide assessment of Army National Guard service members' beliefs about mental health and suicide (N =1116). Factor analyses results collectively supported a four-factor Military Suicide Attitudes Questionnaire (MSAQ) structure: discomfort, unacceptability, support, and empathic views. Subscale reliabilities ranged from 0.77 to 0.83 across samples. Unacceptability and support displayed significant negative correlations with psychological distress. Men displayed more negative suicide-related beliefs compared to women counterparts. Discomfort and unacceptability beliefs displayed significant positive associations with perceived barriers to care. The final short version of the MSAQ is an efficient, multi-dimensional measure of military suicide-related beliefs. The instrument can be used for public health assessment and program evaluation in military settings.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0165-1781
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2022.114849
ID  - ref1
ER  -