An Examination of Measurement Invariance of the Brief Suicide Cognitions Scale (Board#3)

Abstract : Background. With suicide posing a significant health risk, it is essential to accurately identify risk for future suicidal behaviors. Previously developed, the Brief Suicide Cognitions Scale (B-SCS) is a brief instrument used to evaluate suicide-specific, maladaptive cognitions (e.g., hopelessness, perceived burdensomeness, thwarted belongingness); together, these suicidogenic cognitions comprise what is referred to as the suicidal belief system. The B-SCS has previously shown to comprise a unidimensional factor structure and have good validity and reliability; however, the degree to which the B-SCS generalizes to diverse subgroups has not been evaluated, which is an essential step in ensuring it is a psychometrically sound tool. Thus, the purpose of this study is two-fold; first, to evaluate if psychometric validity, reliability, and the unidimensional factor structure replicate within this population. The second aim is to evaluate the degree to which the B-SCS is measurement invariant among different genders sexual, racial, and ethnic identities. Methods. Eligible participants (N=2000) recruited from the LSU SONA system between 2022 and 2023 were asked to complete a series of self-report measures asking about suicide-related constructs. Data Analysis. Multigroup Confirmatory Factor Analyses (MGCFA) were conducted comparing participants by race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality. As the B-SCS is a 5-point Likert-type scale, the data were treated as ordinal, thus the WLSMV/DWLS estimator was used within the MGCFA model. Configural, metric and scalar invariance were tested within all these groups. Model fit was evaluated based on Hu and Bentler’s (1999) guidelines. Missing data was handled via list-wise deletion, as measurement invariance is sensitive to manipulation (e.g., imputation). In line with previous findings among college students by Rudd & Bryan (2021), the B-SCS was evaluated for concurrent validity, content validity, and internal consistency. Results. Results support the existence of a unidimensional factor structure of the B-SCS. MGCFA analyses indicated that the B-SCS yields all levels of measurement invariance across White and Black, Hispanic and non-Hispanic, cisgender man and cisgender woman, and heterosexual compared to non-heterosexual individuals. Additionally, the B-SCS was found to have strong internal consistency (α= .88) and good concurrent validity when compared to scales measuring similar constructs (e.g., Pearson’s r ranging from 0.54 to 0.64). Finally, the B-SCS was able to discriminate between participants who had a history of suicide attempts and those who did not, with greater B-SCS scores being associated with suicide attempt history. Discussion. These results indicate that the B-SCS is a psychometrically valid and reliable tool to be used in assessing suicide risk. Moreover, results from measurement invariance analyses indicate that this tool may be viable to use within the sub-populations examined within this study.