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This study investigated the factor structure of the Adult Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire (ASIQ) and the Linehan Reasons for Living Inventory (LRFL) in a sample of 205 adult psychiatric inpatients. Confirmatory factor analyses provided moderate support for the construct validity of each instrument. Coefficient alphas for the ASIQ (.98) and LRFL (.93) were high. In addition, a range of different clinical cutoff points was derived for each instrument. Both instruments were also better than chance in differentiating between the suicide attempter and psychiartic control groups. High ASIQ and low LRFL scores were significantly associated with scores on selected Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 Content scales. The analyses also indicated that only the ASIQ added to the symptoms of hopelessness and negative affect in differentiating between the suicide attempter and psychiatric control groups. Results suggest that both instruments may be useful screening tests for suicidal behavior in psychiatric long-term care inpatient samples.

This investigation was conducted to validate the Beck Depression Inventory--II (BDI-II; A. T. Beck, R. A. Steer, & G. K. Brown, 1996) in samples of adolescent psychiatric inpatients. The sample in each substudy was primarily Caucasian. In Study 1, expert raters (N=7) and adolescent psychiatric inpatients (N=13) evaluated the BDI-II items to assess content validity. In Study 2, confirmatory factor analyses of several first-order solutions failed to provide adequate fit estimates to data for 205 boys, 203 girls, and the combined sample. Exploratory factor analyses identified new item-factor solutions. Reliability estimates were good (range =.72 to.91) for the BDI-II total and scale scores. In Study 3 (N=161 boys and 158 girls from Study 2), preliminary evidence for estimates of concurrent, convergent, and discriminant validity were established for the BDI-II.