Measuring acquired capability for suicide: Incremental validity of the Death Inurement Scale

Proponents of the interpersonal-psychological theory of suicide have theorized that an acquired capability for suicide is a key construct in the development of high-risk suicidal behavior. However, extant measures do not adequately capture the content domains of this construct. Using 239 psychiatric outpatients recruited from public and private psychiatry and psychology sites, we validated a measure of acquired capability derived from extant measures, the Death Inurement Scale (DIS) in the South African context. The results suggest that the DIS explains additional variance in suicide risk above the measures previously used and provide support for its incremental validity.