Journal article

The Suicidal Ideation Attributes Scale-Modified (SIDAS-M): Development and preliminary validation of a new scale for the measurement of suicidal ideation in autistic adults

D Hedley, PJ Batterham, SM Bury, A Clapperton, K Denney, C Dissanayake, P Fox, TW Frazier, E Gallagher, SM Hayward, J Robinson, E Sahin, J Trollor, M Uljarević, MA Stokes

Autism | SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD | Published : 2023

Abstract

The study describes the development and preliminary psychometric validation of the Suicidal Ideation Attributes Scale-Modified (SIDAS-M), a five-item assessment of suicidal ideation for use with autistic adults. Participants (n = 102 autistic adults; 58% women, 34% men, 8% nonbinary; Mage = 41.75, SD = 12.89) completed an online survey including the SIDAS-M at Time 1 and participated in follow-up interviews at Time 2 (~111 days later). A single factor solution provided good to excellent fit to the data (comparative fit index = 0.961, Tucker–Lewis index = 0.921; standardized root mean square residual = 0.027), with all items showing good to excellent loadings (0.74–0.91). SIDAS-M total score ..

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Grants

Awarded by Australian Research Council


Funding Acknowledgements

We thank the individuals who participated in this study and who were so willing to share their experiences with us. We also thank the members of our autistic advisory group who have all made significant contributions to guiding our research program on mental health and suicide prevention. This research was supported by a Suicide Prevention Australia National Suicide Prevention Research Fellowship awarded to Darren Hedley. This research was also supported by research funding from Untapped Holdings. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection, analysis, data interpretation, or writing of the report. The corresponding author had full access to all the data in the study and final responsibility for the decision to submit the report for publication. This study was not preregistered.