title: The Self-Injury Questionnaire: evaluation of the psychometric properties in a clinical population.
abstract: This paper presents the findings, from a clinical study, on the reliability and validity of a new measure for intentions in self-harm behaviour, the Self-Injury Questionnaire (SIQ). Eighty-three patients, who had presented to an emergency department with an episode of self-harm/suicidal behaviour, were given the SIQ as part of a battery of measures to evaluate differentiation in self-harm intentions based upon a history of childhood physical and/or sexual abuse. The internal consistency for the total scale was strong (alpha = 0.83). Construct validity demonstrated significant correlations with standardized measures. A principle component analysis of responses yielded a five-factor solution with 'affect regulation' items loading on the first factor. Cronbach's alphas were adequate for each subscale (alpha = 0.72-0.77). These preliminary findings indicate that the SIQ is a valid and reliable measure for research in an acute self-harming population.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. esantami@ryerson.ca
authors.forename: E E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Santa Mina
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gallop
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Links
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Heslegrave
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pringle
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wekerle
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Grewal
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods; D016728:Self-Injurious Behavior / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires