Entrapment and suicide risk: The development of the 4-item Entrapment Scale Short-Form (E-SF). (February 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: De Beurs, Derek; Cleare, Seonaid; Wetherall, Karen; Eschle-Byrne, Sarah; Ferguson, Eamonn; B O'Connor, Daryl; C O'Connor, Rory
• Is Part Of: Psychiatry research. Volume 284(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-02
• Subjects: Suicide -- Entrapment -- Assessment -- Item response analysis; Psychiatry -- Periodicals; Psychiatry -- periodicals; Psychiatrie -- Périodiques; 616.89
• DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2020.112765
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0165-1781

Abstract

Highlights: Entrapment, an important driver for suicidal behaviour, is usually assessed with the 16 item entrapment scale. We developed a 4 item short form of the 16 item entrapment scale using data from both clinical and population data. The short form resulted in nearly identical results as the 16-item full scale. the 4 item short form will lead to more widespread monitoring of entrapment in clinical and research settings. Abstract: Evidence suggests that suicidal behaviour arises from one's attempt to escape from unbearable situations or unbearable thoughts and feelings. These feelings of entrapment are usually assessed via the 16-item Entrapment Scale, but this is too long for routine use in clinical practice. The aim of this study was to develop a brief version of the full scale that reliably assesses entrapment. We used data collected from a clinical sample ( n = 497) of patients following hospital-treated self-harm and a population-based sample ( n = 3457) of young adults. Four items were selected that had both the highest factor loading and discriminatory parameters and that covered the theoretical constructs of internal and external entrapment. Correlations between the 4-item short-form and the 16-item full scale were nearly perfect (0.94 for the clinical sample, 0.97 for the population-based sample). When comparing the correlations between the short-form and the full scale with other clinical and psychological scales, the correlations were nearly identical. The 4-item Entrapment Scale Short-Form (E-SF) will provide very comparable information about entrapment for each respondent as the full scale will do. However, its brevity will increase the likelihood that the assessment of entrapment will be implemented into everyday clinical practice.