A MEASURE OF ADOLESCENT POTENTIAL FOR SUICIDE (MAPS) - DEVELOPMENT AND PRELIMINARY FINDINGS

This paper describes an instrument designed to assess the suicide pote ntial of youth 14-18 years of age who are at risk for suicidal behavio rs. A comprehensive measurement theory provides the basis for three ce ntral constructs in the Measure of Adolescent Potential for Suicide (M APS): direct suicide risk factors, related risk factors, and protectiv e factors. The MAPS entails an introductory questionnaire followed by a computer-assisted, structured interview. Two samples were used to ex amine psychometric properties of the MAPS (n = 43; n = 123). Results r evealed generally strong validity (content, criterion, construct) and reliability (internal consistency) for the MAPS. Further verification studies with large and diverse samples are warranted.