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Table 1 Internal validity (alpha) of subscale scores of the Scale of Public Attitudes about Suicide (SPAS) among psychiatrists in Shanghai and comparison of attitudes about suicide between psychiatrists in Shanghai and urban community members with and without adjustment for gender, age and years of education

From: Cross-sectional study of attitudes about suicide among psychiatrists in Shanghai

SPAS subscales

Number of items

Alpha

Normality

Comparison of mean (sd) subscale scores without adjustment

Comparison adjusted for age, gender and years of education using linear regression models

   

Kolmogorov -Smirnov Za

p

Psychiatrists [n = 179] mean (sd)

Community membersb[n = 548] mean (sd)

t-test

p

β

Beta

95% CI of β

p

Subscale 1 c

6

0.586

1.28

0.075

69.2 (15.4)

47.0 (21.5)

15.05

<0.001

31.2

0.60

27.1 ~ 35.4

<0.001

Subscale 2 c

5

0.619

1.32

0.063

63.7 (16.1)

51.0 (22.0)

8.31

<0.001

14.6

0.29

10.2 ~ 19.1

<0.001

Subscale 3 c

10

0.762

0.97

0.308

45.3 (14.5)

33.4 (21.2)

8.43

<0.001

5.6

0.12

1.5 ~ 9.7

0.007

Subscale 4 c

7

0.715

1.03

0.242

41.0 (16.9)

60.9 (20.8)

−12.92

<0.001

−17.8

−0.35

−22.1 ~ −13.5

<0.001

Subscale 5 c

6

0.622

1.13

0.154

42.8 (15.8)

52.1 (20.6)

−6.26

<0.001

−12.9

−0.28

−17.0 ~ −8.7

<0.001

Subscale 6 c

5

0.678

1.12

0.163

71.0 (16.0)

38.4 (19.5)

22.35

<0.001

29.6

0.54

25.6 ~ 33.5

<0.001

Subscale 7 c

5

0.814

1.01

0.265

57.0 (21.5)

62.6 (22.9)

−2.88

0.004

−6.1

−0.12

−10.9 ~ −1.3

0.013

  1. aThe Kolmogorov-Smirnov test is an overall assessment of normality (including consideration of kurtosis and skewedness); if the p-value is >0.05 the distribution is considered normal.
  2. bResults provided in 2011 study by Li and colleagues.
  3. cAdjusted total scores for all seven attitudinal subscales have a range of 0–100.
  4. Subscale 1: Respondent believes suicide can be prevented.
  5. Subscale 2: Respondent believes individuals are able to control their own suicidal tendencies.
  6. Subscale 3: Respondent holds stigmatizing attitudes about suicide.
  7. Subscale 4: Respondent is understanding of and feels empathy for persons with suicidal behavior.
  8. Subscale 5: Respondent believes suicidal behavior is an effective method of controlling others.
  9. Subscale 6: Respondent believes that suicide is an important social problem.
  10. Subscale 7: Respondent believes that suicides and suicide attempts are essentially different.
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BMC Psychiatry

ISSN: 1471-244X

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