title: Short Personality and Life Event scale for detection of suicide attempters.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To develop a brief and reliable psychometric scale to identify individuals at risk for suicidal behaviour.
  
  
  METHODS
  
  
  
  METHODS
  Case-control study.
  
  
  METHODS
  182 individuals (61 suicide attempters, 57 psychiatric controls, and 64 psychiatrically healthy controls) aged 18 or older, admitted to the Emergency Department at Puerta de Hierro University Hospital in Madrid, Spain.
  
  
  METHODS
  All participants completed a form including their socio-demographic and clinical characteristics, and the Personality and Life Events scale (27 items). To assess Axis I diagnoses, all psychiatric patients (including suicide attempters) were administered the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview.
  
  
  METHODS
  Descriptive statistics were computed for the socio-demographic factors. Additionally, χ(2) independence tests were applied to evaluate differences in socio-demographic and clinical variables, and the Personality and Life Events scale between groups. A stepwise linear regression with backward variable selection was conducted to build the Short Personality Life Event (S-PLE) scale. In order to evaluate the accuracy, a ROC analysis was conducted. The internal reliability was assessed using Cronbach's α, and the external reliability was evaluated using a test-retest procedure.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The S-PLE scale, composed of just 6 items, showed good performance in discriminating between medical controls, psychiatric controls and suicide attempters in an independent sample. For instance, the S-PLE scale discriminated between past suicide and past non-suicide attempters with sensitivity of 80% and specificity of 75%. The area under the ROC curve was 88%. A factor analysis extracted only one factor, revealing a single dimension of the S-PLE scale. Furthermore, the S-PLE scale provides values of internal and external reliability between poor (test-retest: 0.55) and acceptable (Cronbach's α: 0.65) ranges. Administration time is about one minute.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The S-PLE scale is a useful and accurate instrument for estimating the risk of suicidal behaviour in settings where the time is scarce.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, IDIPHIM, Puerta de Hierro University Hospital, Majadahonda, Madrid, España.
authors.forename: Paula
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Artieda-Urrutia
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistics, Universidad Carlos III, Leganés, Madrid, España.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Delgado-Gómez
authors.affiliation: Department of Quantitative Methods, CUNEF, Madrid, España.
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ruiz-Hernández
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, IDIPHIM, Puerta de Hierro University Hospital, Majadahonda, Madrid, España.
authors.forename: Juan Manuel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: García-Vega
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, IDIPHIM, Puerta de Hierro University Hospital, Majadahonda, Madrid, España.
authors.forename: Nuria
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Berenguer
authors.affiliation: Molecular Imaging and Neuropathology Division, New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University, New York, Estados Unidos.
authors.forename: Maria A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Oquendo
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, IDIPHIM, Puerta de Hierro University Hospital, Majadahonda, Madrid, España; Autonoma University, CIBERSAM, Madrid, España. Electronic address: hmblasco@yahoo.es.
authors.forename: Hilario
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Blasco-Fontecilla
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010556:Personality Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011594:Psychometrics; D012372:ROC Curve; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Acontecimientos vitales; Emptiness; Life events; Personalidad; Personality; Personas que intentan suicidarse; Sensación de vacío; Suicide attempters