2.3.3. Suicide behaviors questionnaire-revised (SBQ-R)

The SBQ-R (Osman et al., 2001) is a brief self-report measure for screening suicidal behaviors and suicide risk. The scale has been found to be reliable and valid in previous studies (Aloba et al., 2017; Amini-Tehrani et al., 2020; Rueda-Jaimes et al., 2017). The SBQ-R is composed of four items. The first item assesses lifetime suicide ideation and/or suicide attempt. The second item assesses the frequency of suicidal ideation over the preceding 12 months. The third item scans whether the subject has spoken to others about his suicidal thoughts or suicidal intent. Lastly, the fourth item assesses the self-reported probability of suicidal behaviors in the future. In order to evaluate the impact of COVID-19, the scale was adapted, asking for suicidal behaviors only in the last 4 months (time since the first case confirmed in Bangladesh). In the present study, item 1 answer #2 was used explicitly for suicidal ideation, and item 1 answers #3a and #3b had been used for suicide plan (Abdu et al., 2020). The total score of the SBQ-R ranges from 3 to 18, and a total score of 7 and higher indicates significant risk of suicidal behavior (Osman et al., 2001). In the present study, the Cronbach's alpha for the SBQ-R items was .79.