Ga. Clum et L. Curtin, VALIDITY AND REACTIVITY OF A SYSTEM OF SELF-MONITORING SUICIDE IDEATION, Journal of psychopathology and behavioral assessment, 15(4), 1993, pp. 375-385
The present study describes the rationale and validation of a self-mon
itoring approach for suicide ideation. A sample of 49 severely ideatin
g 18- to 24-year-old college students volunteering for a treatment stu
dy for chronic ideators served as subjects. A three-item self-monitori
ng scale designed to assess the strength, duration, and level of contr
ol relative to suicide ideation was designed and utilized. Positive co
rrelations with previously validated measures of suicide ideation supp
ort the validity of the use of self-monitoring. In addition, positive
relationships with measures of depression and hopelessness provide evi
dence of concurrent validity. There was no evidence that self-monitori
ng and concomitant increased attention to ideation increased suicidali
ty. In fact, decreases were noted in measures of suicide ideation foll
owing a 2-week period of self-monitoring. Together these findings supp
ort the addition of self-monitoring to the list of dependent measures
for addressing suicidal behavior.