Reasons for Living Inventory – RFL
Measures the importance of various reasons for not committing suicide, serving as a measure of protective factors against suicidal behavior.
Scale Development & Technical Details
Scale Overview
The Reasons for Living Inventory – RFL was developed by Marsha M. Linehan, John L. Goodstein, Stevan L. Nielsen, John A. Chiles (1983). It is designed to measure Reasons for living / protective factors against suicide. The scale is intended for use with Adults.
Scale Structure
This instrument consists of 48 items organized into 6 factors/subscales: Survival and Coping Beliefs, Responsibility to Family, Child-Related Concerns, Fear of Suicide, Fear of Social Disapproval, Moral Objections.
| Factor / Subscale | Items | N |
|---|---|---|
| Survival and Coping Beliefs | 2,3,4,8,10,12,13,14,17,19,20,22,24,25,29,32,35,36,37,39,40,42,44,45 | 24 |
| Responsibility to Family | 1,7,9,16,30,47,48 | 7 |
| Child-Related Concerns | 11,21,28 | 3 |
| Fear of Suicide | 6,15,18,26,33,38,46 | 7 |
| Fear of Social Disapproval | 31,41,43 | 3 |
| Moral Objections | 5,23,27,34 | 4 |
Response Format
Respondents rate each item using a custom response format.
Response anchors: 1 = Not At All Important (or does not apply to me), 2 = Quite Unimportant, 3 = Somewhat Unimportant, 4 = Somewhat Important, 5 = Quite Important, 6 = Extremely Important.
Scoring
Items are scored by subscale, with each subscale sum representing a distinct dimension.
Total scores range from 48 to 288. Interpretation guidelines:
- Low reasons for living (higher suicide risk): 48 – 144
- High reasons for living (lower suicide risk): 145 – 288
Psychometric Properties
Internal Consistency: The scale has demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency with reported Cronbach’s alpha values of Cronbach's alpha ranges from .72 to .89 for subscales.
Administration
The scale is self-administered and typically takes approximately 10 minutes to complete. It can be administered individually or in group settings. No special training is required for administration.