Abstract
Suicide remains the second leading cause of death among young adults aged 15 years and older. Given its negative impact, it is essential to conduct studies that offer a greater understanding of the reasons young adults give for not engaging in suicide-related behaviors. The Reasons for Living Inventory for Young Adults is designed to explore this idea. This novel 24-item instrument measures four protective dimensions of reasons: Peer Acceptance and Support, Family Sources of Support, Faith-Related Support, and Personal Perceived Strength. The current investigations include two validation studies designed to examine further the psychometric properties of this instrument. Participants were undergraduate students at a state university in the U.S. Southwest. The first aim of the study was to evaluate the dimensionality of the instrument. We used confirmatory and bifactor confirmatory factor analyses to address this goal. The second aim was to examine the evidence for reliability estimates and concurrent validity. Results from both studies provided adequate support for a four-factor model across methods, acceptable internal consistency reliability, and concurrent validity for the dimensions of this instrument.Public Significance Statement: Suicide remains a significant mental health concern for young adults. The present studies found empirical support for the psychometric properties of a new measure for assessing four dimensions of the target construct: Peer-Acceptance and Social Support, Family Sources of Support, Faith-Related Support, and Personal Perceived Strength.