The Life Attitudes Schedule-Short Form: psychometric properties and correlates of adolescent suicide proneness

The goals of the present study were to describe the psychometric properties of the Life Attitudes Schedule-Short Form (LAS-SF) in adolescents and provide criterion and construct validity data, including bivariate and multivariate associations with related risk behaviors. Anonymous questionnaires containing the LAS-SF and related measures were administered to 1,742 high school students in three states. Psychometric properties for LAS-SF items and total score were very good, and the LAS-SF was correlated with almost all of the examined risk behaviors, illustrating the broad range of problems measured by the instrument. LAS-SF total scores were associated with past suicide attempt, even after controlling for the impact of current depression. Clinical and research uses for the LAS-SF are discussed.