Self-Injurious Thoughts and Behaviors Questionnaire-Nonsuicidal (SITBQ-NS): Development and validation of a revised version of the Self-Injurious Thoughts and Behaviors Interview (SITBI) for the self-assessment of nonsuicidal self-injury

Objective: Despite the fact that nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) has become an important issue among clinicians and researchers all over the world, in Italy there is still a lack of instruments able to assess it. The objective of this study is to develop and validate the Self-Injurious Thoughts and Behaviors Questionnaire-Nonsuicidal (SITBQ-NS), a self-report measuring the whole NSSI spectrum, that is, from ideation to act. Method: SITBQ-NS was administered to 51 adult patients recruited from public mental health services together with the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI-III), the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), the Deliberate Self-Harm Inventory (DSHI), and the Nepean Dysphoria Scale (NDS-I). Results: SITBQ-NS demonstrated excellent internal consistency (α=0.983). NSSI thoughts were present in 56.9% of participants, and NSSI behaviors were present in 49% of participants. Similar NSSI functions were found among participants, except for “To end suicidal ideation,” which was more common among those having NSSI thoughts (34.1%) than those exhibiting NSSI behaviors (21.6%). There were strong positive correlations between the scores of SITBQ-NS and the scores of BHS, DSHI and NDS-I. Also, there were weak to strong positive correlations between the scores of SITBQ-NS and some MCMI-III scales. Conclusions: The SITBQ-NS shows very good psychometric properties, being a useful and easy-to-handle instrument for measuring the whole NSSI spectrum. Further research in clinical samples is needed