Suicide Prevention: College Students' Intention to Intervene

Abstract

The objective of this article was to examine college students' intention to intervene with a suicidal individual and examine the Willingness to Intervene against Suicide questionnaire (WIS). College students (n = 1065) completed an online questionnaire about their attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control regarding suicide and suicide intervention as well as their intention to intervene with a suicidal individual. The data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis, reliability analysis, and multiple regression. It was found that the WIS significantly predicted intention to intervene with a suicidal individual. The WIS was internally consistent with adequate goodness-of-fit indices for three of the four sub-scales. The WIS is an effective tool for predicting intention to intervene; however, the subjective norms sub-scale should be revised to improve the model.

Keywords:

• college students
• intention to intervene
• suicide intervention
• willingness to intervene against suicide

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rosalie S. Aldrich

Rosalie Aldrich, Department of Communication Studies, Indiana University East, Richmond, Indiana, USA.