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Author ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6812-1819
AccessType
Open Access Dissertation
Document Type
dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Degree Program
School Psychology
Year Degree Awarded
2020
Month Degree Awarded
May
First Advisor
Sara Whitcomb
Subject Categories
School Psychology
Abstract
Suicide is the second leading cause of death for the 10-24 age range (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2018). Despite national attention, youth suicide rates have increased by 50% since 1999 (CDC WISQARS, 2018). To better target and evaluate school-based suicide prevention efforts, this study undertakes the development and initial validation of the Suicide Prevention Attitudes Rating Scale (SPARS) in a sample of California school principals. After a thorough literature review and initial item development, experts in the suicide prevention field reviewed and provided feedback on the initial items and construct definition. A cognitive interview protocol with school principals was then used to ensure items are interpreted as intended. After a large-scale data collection process, psychometric analyses used methods from classical psychometrics, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and item response theory to refine the internal structure of the measure. Through these methods, the study collects initial validity evidence in the areas of test content evidence, response process evidence, evidence of internal psychometric structure, and evidence based on relations to other variables (AERA, APA, NCME, 2014).
DOI
https://doi.org/10.7275/16776110
Recommended Citation
Reinbergs, Erik, "The Development and Initial Validation of the Suicide Prevention Attitudes Rating Scale" (2020). Doctoral Dissertations. 1898.
https://doi.org/10.7275/16776110
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_2/1898
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.