OBJECTIVE

To investigate psychometric properties of the Russian version of the brief Reasons for Living Inventory (bRFL) in patients with non-psychotic mental disorders (NPMD) and to define its association with current suicide ideation.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Six hundred and 15 consecutive patients with NPMD were included. The median age was 27 (19) years; 403 (65.5%) were female. Cronbach’s alpha, Cronbach’s alpha coefficient if an item is deleted and corrected item-total correlation were used for the internal consistency evaluation. The internal structure assessment was based on the exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. To identify an association of bRFL with current suicidal ideation, MANCOVA was used.

RESULTS

An internal consistency of bRFL was good (Cronbach’s Alpha-0.856). The exploratory factor analysis revealed a 6-factor model, explaining 80.22% of variance. These factors were: «survival and coping beliefs», «responsibility to family», «child related concerns», «fear of suicide», «fear of social disapproval» and «moral objections». The confirmatory factor analysis indicated a good agreement of the 6-factor model with an empirical data (CMIN/DF – 2.98, CFI — 0.956, SRMR — 0.05, RMSEA – 0.057, PNFI — 0.497). Regardless of gender and age, the total scores of bRFL and its subscales were significantly lower in patients with suicide ideation (p<0.01).

CONCLUSION

The Russian version of bRFL is a reliable and valid tool for the assessment of the adaptive beliefs and expectations that form an anti-suicidal barrier.