A Scale to Measure the Desire to be Dead

Abstract

Andrej Marušič suggested that it might be useful for therapists to assess the wish to be dead in clients, a preliminary step in the pathway to suicide. The aim of the present research was to develop a brief scale to measure the wish to be dead. Two samples of undergraduate students were administered a brief 10-item scale to measure the wish to be dead. The scale had moderately good test-retest reliability and internal consistency (as measured with Cronbach alpha). Scores on the wish to be dead scale had modest correlations with a history of suicidal ideation and attempts and with scores on a scale to measure obsession with death. The wish to be dead scale, therefore, appears to measure a state of mind different from suicidal ideation and obsession with death, has adequate psychometric properties (reliability and validity), and may prove useful for clinical practice and research.