Introduction:

Updated research reveals permanence of suicidal ideation in the Peruvian population. In Peru the significant increases of completed suicides and the lack of evidence-based assessment instruments are problem to be considered. The assessment of suicidal ideation is essential for suicide prevention and it is advisable to have confidence instruments for the correct interpretation and informed inferences of the scores obtained.

Objective:

To assess the psychometric properties of the Frequency of Suicidal Ideation Inventory (FSII) in the Peruvian adult population.

Method:

An instrumental and cross-sectional research was designed, involving in it 376 Peruvian adults. Content-based evidence, internal structure, confidence, not invariant measurement according sex and age, and evidence of the relationship among other variables.

Results:

FSII is a unidimensional measurement (CFI=0.99, RMSEA=0,03 [90% confidence interval (CI): 0.00 to 0.08], SRMR=0.03, WRMR=0.37), with an adequate confidence (ω=0.80 and H= 0.91) and invariant measurement according sex and age (ΔCFI<0.010; ΔSRMR<0.030). At the same time, the FSII scores were correlated with depression stages (r=0.67; p=0.001) presenting a strong effect size. The expert reviewers considered all items as relevant.

Conclusions:

The FSII is a unidimensional tool with an adequate confidence values and different sources which can provide valid evidence. Therefore, it is recommended to use the FSII as an additional tool for the assessment of suicidal ideation in the general Peruvian adult population.

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