The Multi-Attitude Suicide Tendency Scale: psychometric characteristics in an American sample.

The Multi-Attitude Suicide Tendency Scale (MAST) was designed to assess suicidal tendencies in youth. This 30-item scale has four types of attitudes: attraction to life, repulsion by life, attraction to death, and repulsion by death. Normative, factor structure, and psychometric data were investigated with American youth with a range of suicidal ideations and behaviors. The reported factor structure was replicated with American youths. In addition, all four factor scales showed good reliability estimates. Finally, the relationships among the MAST factors and measures of suicidal behavior and ideation, social desirability, and general psychopathology were examined.