Attitude to death ; Suicide ; Validation study ; Surveys and questionnaires
Abstract
Purpose: The aims of this study was to verify the validity and reliability of the Attitudes Towards Suicide (ATTS) scale
for Korean adults. Methods: Participants were 441 adults in South Korea, who completed in a self-reported online
survey of ATTS. A total of 37 items were used for conducting item analyses, exploratory factor analyses, and
confirmatory factor analyses, as well as examining the internal consistency. Results: Based on findings of item
reduction and exploratory factor analyses, three factors were identified based on 16 items, such as ‘acceptability
(7 items)’, ‘understandability (5 items)’, and ‘tabooing (4 items)’. These factors accounted for 49.4% of the total
variance of ATTS. Known-groups, item convergent, and item discriminant validity were confirmed; Fitness of the
modified mode was acceptable (x2=375.51, CFI=.84, TLI=.81, GFI=.90, AGFI=.87, RMSEA=.08). The Cronbach's ⍺ coefficient for the 16 items was .82. Conclusion: Three factors of the short version of ATTS may be useful to
evaluate the suicidal attitudes of Korean adults effectively and accurately. Our study findings suggest that suicide
attitude questionaries need to be constantly revised to consider socio-cultural environment.