title: Studying Chinese suicide with proxy-based data: reliability and validity of the methodology and instruments in China.
abstract: This study examined the reliability and validity of the instruments as used in the psychological autopsy method in China. With data from 130 informants on 66 completed suicides and 130 informants on 66 normal community controls and 66 controls themselves, the validity was examined by comparing the responses of informants and the responses (gold standards) of the target participants in the control group. All the tested instruments were shown to be reliable, and proxy respondents were generally good judges of targets' suicidal intention, social support, depression, life events, personality traits, and mental disorders. Additionally, interrater reliabilities of the five interviewers were very good on selected scales. This study has laid a partial foundation for future psychological autopsy projects to be held in Chinese culture.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, State University of New York College at Buffalo, 1300 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, New York 14222, USA.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yeates
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Conwell
authors.forename: William F
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Wieczorek
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Shuhua
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002681:China / Q000208:ethnology; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D019727:Proxy; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012107:Research Design / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012944:Social Support; D013405:Suicide / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires