Abstract
The Acquired Capability for Suicide Scale (ACSS) assesses one of three main constructs in the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide but evidence of its validity is limited. In two studies (Ns = 287 and 738) validity of the full 20-item ACSS and its shorter versions (ACSS-5, ACSS-8, ACSS-FAD) were examined in terms of factor structure and relation to indices of self-reported suicidal behaviour and self-harm. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) failed to show good fit for one-, two-, or three-factor models of the ACSS in its various versions. Exploratory factor analysis of the 20-item scale in the first study pointed instead to a five-factor structure and this was supported using CFA in the second study. In both studies all scale versions showed moderate negative correlations to fear of death and dying, indicating scale validity for the purpose of assessing fearlessness about death. In the second study, a model in which the five factors were indicators of a latent variable of Capability was found to predict a latent variable of Suicidality as indicated by suicidal behaviours, but the prediction was substantially enhanced by the addition of Item 20 to the model. This single item was also found in the first study to better predict suicidal and self-harming behaviour than the full ACSS or any of its short versions.
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Notes
A reviewer of the original manuscript commented that, rather than using the criterion of .326 to define a variable as loading on a factor, a criterion of .4 should be used. We reanalysed the data using a .4 cut-off. This new model necessarily accounted for fewer items in the ACSS and did not include a factor that we have termed Fearlessness of Dying. This factor appeared in the Smith et al. (2013a, b) study (although not under that name) and was replicated in Study 2 (see below). We consider that a factor that appears in three independent samples is worth including in describing the factor structure of the scale and have continued to use the criterion of .326.
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Jurgita Rimkeviciene, Jacinta Hawgood, John O’Gorman and Diego De Leo declare that they have no conflict of interest.
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Rimkeviciene, J., Hawgood, J., O’Gorman, J. et al. Construct Validity of the Acquired Capability for Suicide Scale: Factor Structure, Convergent and Discriminant Validity. J Psychopathol Behav Assess 39, 291–302 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-016-9576-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-016-9576-4