Reasons for living in a clinical sample of adolescents

Abstract

The psychometric properties and validity of the Reasons for Living (RFL) Inventory were examined in a sample of psychiatrically hospitalized adolescents (n = 253), aged 13 to 18 years, identified as suicide ideators, suicide attempters, and psychiatric controls. Confirmatory factor analysis suggested that the original RFL factors did not provide a good fit; exploratory factor analysis identified five factors, of which three were identical with the original RFL factors. Factor scores differentiated suicidal from non-suicidal adolescents and attempters from ideators. Correlational analyses indicated that RFL factors were associated with suicidal ideation, depression, and hopelessness, and predicted unique variance in suicidal ideation over that accounted for by depression and hopelessness. Our findings provide support for the RFL as a sound measure for clinical and research assessment in adolescents.