Evaluation of Psychometric Properties of the Persian Version of the Predicaments Questionnaire, Exploring Social Attitudes to Suicide

Abstract Suicide is the second leading cause of death between the ages of 15 and 29. Most suicides are related to mental illnesses. Suicide is considered a response to predicaments. Due to the growing prevalence of suicide, assessing people's attitudes toward suicide is necessary. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the Persian version of the Predicaments Questionnaire (PQ), measuring social attitudes toward suicide.Methods:This psychometrics study evaluated face validity, content validity, temporal stability, internal consistency, and exploratory factor analysis. First, the questionnaire was translated into Persian by the translate-back-translate method. The Persian version was provided to 10 experts in psychiatry for further revision. Two indicators, CVR and CVI, were calculated to evaluate the content validity. To check the face validity, we prepared a form and gave it to 10 people outside the campus to submit their opinions. The results were then given to 10 experts to comment on.Temporal stability was investigated by the test-retest method, reporting Intraclass correlation (ICC). Internal consistency was assessed by reporting Cronbach's alpha and McDonald’s Omega coefficients. Exploratory factor analysis was used to determine the number of dimensions of the questionnaire. In this analysis, χ2, TLI, CFI, RMSEA, and SRMR indices were calculated. All analyses were performed using SPSS software version 22 and R software version 4.Results:A total of 151 students were enrolled with a mean age of 25 (SD=0.32). The Persian PQ was valid in terms of content validity and face validity. Furthermore, it was reliable as Cronbach’s alpha, McDonald’s Omega, and the ICC were 0.94, 0.943, and 0.998, respectively. In addition, the exploratory factor analysis yielded one dimension. Finally, after reviewing the experts’ comments, the final amendments were made, and only question 29 was removed from the final version.Conclusion:Consequently, the Persian version of the PQ is acceptable in terms of content validity, face validity, temporal stability, and internal consistency. This questionnaire can be used in future research on Persian-speaking society.