The Multidimensional Suicide Inventory-28 (MSI-28): Evaluation of factor structure and psychometric properties

The purpose of the present research study is to examine the structure and psychometric properties of a newly developed self-report measure of suicide related risk and protective factors, the Multidimensional Suicide Inventory -- 28. Four hypotheses were examined, relating to factor structure, internal consistency reliability, factor intercorrelations, and concurrent validity. Data from an undergraduate student sample (N = 300) were used to examine the hypotheses. Results indicated that the hypothesized four-factor solution provided the best fit for the sample data. In addition, scores on the MSI-28 subscales are internally consistent and low to moderately intercorrelated. Moderate significant correlations were observed among the MSI-28 scale scores and scores on the included concurrent validation measures. The current study suggests that the MSI-28 has sound psychometric properties and can yield meaningful information about suicidal ideation in a non-clinical sample. Future research using the MSI-28 in clinical setting will be necessary to establish utility of the instrument in applied settings.