Suicide-related stigma: Scale validation and latent profile analysis in a cohort of Australian adolescents

Introduction: Suicide is a leading cause of death in young people in Australia and internationally. Suicide-related stigma is a key barrier for help-seeking amongst young people, but has been under-studied in adolescents. The objectives of this study are: 1) to validate a measure of public suicide-related stigma (the Stigma of Suicide Scale – Short Form [SOSS-SF]) in Australian adolescents, and 2) to determine distinct latent profiles on this scale.Methods: This was a secondary analysis of baseline data from the Multimodal Approach to Preventing Suicide in Schools (MAPSS) study. Students were recruited from 21 secondary schools, and completed an online survey during class. Validating the SOSS-SF involved confirmatory factor analysis, Pearson correlations to explore construct validity, and examining Cronbach’s alpha to assess internal consistency. To examine heterogeneity in stigma profiles, latent profile analysis (LPA) was conducted using the three SOSS-SF subscale means.Results: Data were provided by n=1667 adolescents aged 14-18 years. Participants typically disagreed with negative attributions on the Stigma subscale (M=1.6/5, SD=0.8). All SOSS-SF items loaded significantly onto their original factors, known groups validity was supported, and internal consistency was excellent for all three SOSS-SF subscales. LPA identified a five-profile solution with distinct patterns of endorsement across the Stigma, Isolation/Depression, and Glorification/Normalisation subscales. Discussion: The SOSS-SF is a valid, reliable measure of public suicide-related stigma in Australian adolescents, though scores appear skewed. Results identified heterogeneity of adolescents’ attributions towards people who die by suicide. Future suicide prevention interventions should target demographic profiles associated with high stigma and glorification.