Reasons for Living Inventory for Young Adults: Psychometric Properties Among Portuguese Sample

A main protective factor against suicide in young adults is their reasons for living; therefore, suicide risk screening should consider these reasons. However, few psychometric instruments assess reasons for living, and none have been adapted for young adults in Portugal. Thus, we assess the psychometric characteristics of the Reasons for Living Inventory for Young Adults-II (RFL-YA-II) in participants (n = 936; Mage = 21.77; SD = 2.88) from Portugal. Participants answered measures concerning suicidal ideation, depression, hopelessness, and positive and negative affect. The results of an exploratory factorial analysis replicated the original 4-factor model of the RFL-YA-II, and a confirmatory factorial analysis indicated satisfactory indices. In terms of reliability and convergent, discriminant, and concurrent validity, our results are consistent with previous research. Moreover, our results indicate that the RFL-YA-II is a valid and reliable instrument to study the protective factors against suicidal behavior in Portuguese young adults, and should thus be integrated into preventive strategies.

Suicide Associated with Risk Factors in Patients Suffering from Depression

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to assess suicide and their relationship with risk factors i.e. degree of hopelessness, severity of depression and suicidal ideations. METHODOLOGY: It was a cross sectional study conducted in Psychiatry unit Khyber Teaching Hospital Peshawar. The total sample of this study was forty-eight admitted patients. Those patients were included in the study that scored moderate to high in Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), Hopelessness Scale and Reasons for Living Inventory (RLI). The collected data were analysed using SPSS version 22. RESULTS: Study showed that reasons for living as well as the subscales of reasons for living inventory i.e. responsibility towards family, hope of improvement and surviving and coping beliefs have significant inverse correlation with score on Hopelessness Scale and suicidal ideations. The score on subscale religious beliefs had significant correlation only with score on hopelessness. Married individuals’ responses were different on total reasons for living to a significant extent. The patients with past psychiatric history had significantly greater fear of suicide. The three different social groups did not differ to a significant extent in scoring on reasons for living. CONCLUSION: The reasons for living as a whole and some of the subscales of Reasons for Living Inventory have significant inverse relationship with suicidal risk factors showing the modulatory effect of these reasons on suicidal risk. Moreover, these reasons are not equally distributed among some of the sociodemographic and clinical groups.

Burnout, Reasons for Living and Dehumanisation among Italian Penitentiary Police Officers

The literature on burnout syndrome among Penitentiary Police Officers (PPOs) is still rather scarce, and there are no analyses on the protective factors that can prevent these workers from the dangerous effect of burnout, with respect to the weakening of the reasons for living and de-humanization. This study aimed to examine the relationships between burnout, protective factors against weakening of the reasons for living and not desiring to die and the role of de-humanisation, utilising the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI); the Reasons for Living Inventory (RFL); the Testoni Death Representation Scale (TDRS); and the Human Traits Attribution Scale (HTAS), involving 86 PPOs in a North Italy prison. Results showed the presence of a high level of burnout in the group of participants. In addition, dehumanization of prisoners, which is considered a factor that could help in managing other health professional stress situations, does not reduce the level of burnout.

The Reasons for Living Inventory for Young Adults (RFL-YA-II)

Suicide remains the second leading cause of death among young adults aged 15 years and older. Given its negative impact, it is essential to conduct studies that offer a greater understanding of the reasons young adults give for not engaging in suicide-related behaviors. The Reasons for Living Inventory for Young Adults is designed to explore this idea. This novel 24-item instrument measures four protective dimensions of reasons: Peer Acceptance and Support, Family Sources of Support, Faith-Related Support, and Personal Perceived Strength. The current investigations include two validation studies designed to examine further the psychometric properties of this instrument. Participants were undergraduate students at a state university in the U.S. Southwest. The first aim of the study was to evaluate the dimensionality of the instrument. We used confirmatory and bifactor confirmatory factor analyses to address this goal. The second aim was to examine the evidence for reliability estimates and concurrent validity. Results from both studies provided adequate support for a four-factor model across methods, acceptable internal consistency reliability, and concurrent validity for the dimensions of this instrument. Public Significance Statement: Suicide remains a significant mental health concern for young adults. The present studies found empirical support for the psychometric properties of a new measure for assessing four dimensions of the target construct: Peer-Acceptance and Social Support, Family Sources of Support, Faith-Related Support, and Personal Perceived Strength.

Reasons for Living Inventory for Adolescents: Psychometric Properties Among Portuguese Adolescents

Reasons for living are protective factors against suicidal behavior in adolescents. One of the most useful measures to assess them is the Reasons for Living Inventory for Adolescents (RFL-A) developed by Osman et al. The goal of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of its Portuguese version of the RFL-A. To this end, we recruited 512 high school adolescents (mean age = 16.7 years), who completed the RFL-A, a Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire, and a hopelessness scale. Exploratory factor analysis replicated the original five-factor model and confirmatory factor analysis obtained satisfactory adjustment values. The RFL-A shows good reliability (internal consistency and temporal stability) as well as good convergent, discriminant, and concurrent validities. These results indicate that the RFL-A is a valid and reliable measure to study protective factors against suicidal behaviors in Portuguese adolescents.

Adaptation of the research methods suicidal behavior on selection of persons with attempts of self-murder

The adaptation of the Russian-language variants of the «The Psychache Scale» R.R. Holden, K. Mehta et al. (2001), «Reasons for Living Inventory» M.M. Linehan, J.L. Goodstein et al. (1983) and «Reasons for Attempting Suicide Questionnaire» D. Johns, R.R. Holden (1997) on a sample of 290 people hospitalized in Moscow Ambulance Research Institute named after N.V. Sklifosovsky after incomplete attempts to commit suicide. Patients in the department of crisis conditions and psychosomatic disorders aged 16 to 44 participated in the questioning and testing. When assessing the psychometric properties of the techniques adapted on a sample of 290 suicides, satisfactory results were obtained for their reliability and construct validity. Using the method of the main components with rotation varimax, the correspondence of the factor structure of Russian versions to the structure of the original tests was confirmed. The Russian-language versions of the Psych Psychology Scale, Reasons for Living Inventory and Reasons for Attempting Suicide Questionnaire can be used to analyze the reasons for voluntary withdrawal and assess the extent of suicide risk in people of working age with auto aggressive behavior.