The Self‐Injury Questionnaire: evaluation of the psychometric properties in a clinical population

This paper presents the findings, from a clinical study, on the reliability and validity of a new measure for intentions in self‐harm behaviour, the Self‐Injury Questionnaire (SIQ). Eighty‐three patients, who had presented to an emergency department with an episode of self‐harm/suicidal behaviour, were given the SIQ as part of a battery of measures to evaluate differentiation in self‐harm intentions based upon a history of childhood physical and/or sexual abuse. The internal consistency for the total scale was strong (α = 0.83). Construct validity demonstrated significant correlations with standardized measures. A principle component analysis of responses yielded a five‐factor solution with ‘affect regulation’ items loading on the first factor. Cronbach's alphas were adequate for each subscale (α = 0.72–0.77). These preliminary findings indicate that the SIQ is a valid and reliable measure for research in an acute self‐harming population.