Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry (생물정신의학)

The Korean Society of Biological Psychiatry (대한생물정신의학회)
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Factor Structure of Attitudes Toward Suicide (ATTS) of Adults : Based on a Nationwide Survey in South Korea

한국 성인의 자살태도측정도구의 요인구조 : 2013년 자살실태조사 자료를 바탕으로

  • Hong, Minseok (Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Seoul National University College of Medicine) ;
  • Park, Jong-Ik (Department of Psychiatry, Kangwon National University School of Medicine) ;
  • Lee, Sang-Uk (Department of Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, Kyung Hee University) ;
  • Shin, Min-Sup (Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Seoul National University College of Medicine) ;
  • Ahn, Yongmin (Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Seoul National University College of Medicine)
  • 홍민석 (서울대학교 의과대학 정신건강의학교실) ;
  • 박종익 (강원대학교 의학전문대학원 정신건강의학과) ;
  • 이상욱 (경희대학교 의과대학.의학전문대학원 예방의학교실) ;
  • 신민섭 (서울대학교 의과대학 정신건강의학교실) ;
  • 안용민 (서울대학교 의과대학 정신건강의학교실)
  • Received : 2019.08.14
  • Accepted : 2019.08.28
  • Published : 2019.10.31
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Abstract

Objectives Suicide is a complex phenomenon not only caused by the individual's mental illness and economic situation, but also occurred in sociocultural contexts and relationships around the individual. Therefore, the attitudes, which include collective norms, thoughts and feelings of a population, toward suicide play a fundamental role in the prevention of suicide. Factor structure of Attitudes Toward Suicide (ATTS), developed by Renberg, is also various in different sociocultural contexts. This is the first study to investigate factor structure of ATTS along with nationwide sample of Korean adults. Methods This study analyzed the factor structure and reliability of ATTS in 1500 regionally stratified Korean adults. Exploratory factor analysis was performed by using principal axis factoring and varimax rotation. Results The selection of 33 ATTS items based on internal consistency and communality was conducted. Five factors were analyzed, which were named 'Good reason,' 'Negative gaze,' 'Predictability,' 'Means of escape,' and 'Common secret,' respectively. Explained total variance was 41.94%, and the internal consistency ranged from 0.516 to 0.740. Conclusions Each of the five factors contains different semantic dimensions. Consistent with previous studies, factors containing permissive attitude toward suicide was high in those with history of suicidal thought and of suicide attempt. It is notable that the 'Good reason' showed higher score in elderly. This may be related to socioeconomic or physical adversities which have been considered the major cause of suicide in elderly.

Keywords

References

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