Psychometric evaluation of the Questionnaire on Attitudes Towards Suicide (ATTS) in Poland

Abstract

The Questionnaire on Attitudes Towards Suicide (ATTS) is widely used to evaluate the views of an individual regarding acceptability of suicide and orientation towards suicide prevention. However, recent findings suggest that it requires some revision. The present study examines the factor structure of the ATTS questionnaire in two Polish samples, consisting of 239 students (sample one) and 128 students (sample two) of the helping professions. The previously-established 10-factor model was not supported by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Theoretical revaluation of the scale followed by factor analysis suggested that the best fit was provided by a five-factor model accounting for 48.2% of the variance. The adapted Polish ATTS questionnaire showed satisfactory reliability and validity; however, the factor loading patterns and factor structure varied from earlier studies. These improvements in the ATTS theoretical base and construct validity may enhance the utility of the revised scale.

Student Pharmacists’ Attitudes Toward Suicide and the Perceived Role of Community Pharmacists in Suicidal Ideation Assessment

“…These attitudes are important to understanding gatekeeper behavior and may function as guidelines for decision making. 27,28 Further, there was no difference in ATTS scores between first-year student pharmacists who viewed suicide ideation assessment as a professional responsibility and those who did not. This suggests the factors that influence first-year student pharmacists' attitudes towards suicidal ideation and professional responsibilities are complex and must be researched further before optimal educational interventions can be designed.…”

The Predictive Role of Positive Mental Health for Attitudes Towards Suicide and Suicide Prevention: Is the Well-Being of Students of the Helping Professions a Worthwhile Goal for Suicide Prevention?

“…Our findings suggest that positive relations with others may be a significant predictor of orientation towards suicide prevention. An orientation towards prevention involves an instrumental component, defined as readiness to prevent suicide when approaching a person in crisis (Sallander Renberg and Jacobsson 2003 ; Stecz 2019 ). The achievement of close relationships with others then could be seen as the ability to empathize and care.…”

“…Our attempt to recruit a wide range of potential future gatekeepers (including Law students) could be also regarded as a trade-off between external and internal validity. Finally, some caution should be observed when interpreting the results, as the internal consistencies of the ATTS subscales were a little lower; in addition, the available questionnaires on ATS and ATSP rely on self-report, and as they generally have rather limited psychometric characteristics, they can be exposed to measurement bias (Kodaka et al 2011 ; Stecz 2019 ).…”

“…The ATTS developed by Sallander Renberg and Jacobsson ( 2003 ) is a self-report scale used to assess ATS and ATSP. The Polish ATTS version with 18 items has been demonstrated to have a unique five-factor structure, with McDonald’s Omega coefficients varying from .57 ( suicide preventability — cognitive ) to .85 ( suicide as a right ) and has shown generally adequate reliability and acceptable construct validity (Stecz 2019 ). In our sample, most internal consistency reliabilities were acceptable, with suicide as a right (Cronbach’s α = .84), suicide as a solution (α = .68), suicide (in)comprehensibility (α = .66), suicide preventability — cognitive (α = .55) and orientation towards suicide prevention (α = .60) .…”

“…Pro-preventive orientation is a construct derived from research on ATS and ATSP (Sallander Renberg and Jacobsson 2003 ), which could be defined as the subjective preparedness and willingness to intervene personally; it also involves positive cognitive expectations towards prevention. Low pro-preventive orientation may therefore indicate individual disengagement from initiating the intervention (Sallander Renberg and Jacobsson 2003 ; Stecz 2019 ).…”