Validation of the personal suicide stigma questionnaire among adolescents with suicide attempts in mainland China

TL;DR

This study validated a Chinese version of a questionnaire to measure personal suicide stigma in adolescents who have attempted suicide, ensuring it is reliable and culturally appropriate.

Contribution

The study provides a validated, culturally adapted Chinese version of the Personal Suicide Stigma Questionnaire for use with adolescents.

Findings

The Chinese PSSQ has three dimensions and 14 items with strong content and construct validity.

The questionnaire demonstrated good internal consistency and reliability in measuring self-stigma among suicidal adolescents.

The validated tool enhances the accuracy of assessing personal suicide stigma in Chinese adolescents.

Abstract

The study aimed to translate and culturally adapt the personal suicide stigma questionnaire (PSSQ) into simplified Chinese and evaluate its psychometric properties among adolescents who have attempted suicide in mainland China.

Following Brislin’s translation model and using purposive sampling, we surveyed 440 adolescents who had attempted suicide at Hangzhou Seventh People’s Hospital in Zhejiang Province, China. Content validity was determined by a panel of experts, and the construct validity of the scale was assessed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), convergent validity, and discriminant validity. Reliability analysis was evaluated using Cronbach’s α coefficient, test–retest reliability, and half-split reliability.

The Chinese version of the PSSQ consists of three dimensions and 14 items. After two rounds of expert consultation, the item-content validity index for all items exceeded 0.70, and the scale-content validity index exceeded 0.90. EFA extracted three factors and retained all 14 items. The CFA indicators demonstrated a good fit. The Cronbach’s α coefficient of the scale was 0.880, the half-split reliability was 0.681, and the test–retest reliability was 0.862. It is evident that the PSSQ and its subscales demonstrate stable structural validity and good internal consistency in measuring self-stigma among individuals with suicidal tendencies, indicating that the PSSQ is a reliable tool for assessing the degree of personal stigma in Chinese adolescents who have attempted suicide.

This study ensured the linguistic and cultural appropriateness of the Chinese version of the PSSQ through cross-cultural adaptation and validation of its reliability and validity, thereby enhancing the accuracy and reliability of assessing personal stigma among Chinese adolescents who have attempted suicide. The validation of the Chinese version of the scale not only enriches the research tools available for studying personal stigma related to suicide in mainland China, but also provides a reliable quantitative tool for future research on the psychological states of individuals who have attempted suicide, the impact of stigma, and the effectiveness of interventions.

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