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Abstract
The primary objective of this study was to initiate the development of the Habituation and Acute Risk Measure (HARM), a multi-factor measure of suicide risk. Initial item development occurred in relation to various factors identified in the literature as having strong correlations to suicide, as well as a number of protective factors and validity items. Accordingly, a series of Exploratory Factor Analyses (EFAs) were conducted to determine the factor structure of the measure. Findings suggest a measure consisting of five latent variables with relevance to suicide, which were assigned the following names: hopelessness; habituation to suicidal behavior; agitated depression; substance abuse; and existential resolution. The solution was associated with sufficient goodness of fit, X = 238.26, p < .001, RMSEA = 0.044. Furthermore, the latent variables possess adequate to very good internal consistency. Social desirability and protective factors constructs did not emerge secondary to the EFA. Limitations of the present study are discussed, as well as suggestions for future revisions and further validation. Overall, however, the HARM appears to possess good potential as a multi-factor measure of suicide risk.