Multi-Attitude Suicide Tendency Scale – MAST
Measures youth and adolescent attitudes toward life and death to assess suicidal tendencies across four distinct dimensions.
Scale Development & Technical Details
Scale Overview
The Multi-Attitude Suicide Tendency Scale – MAST was developed by Israel Orbach, Irit Milstein, Dalia Har-Even, Alan Apter, Shmuel Tiano, & Adolf Elizur (1991). It is designed to measure Suicidal tendencies and attitudes toward life and death. The scale is intended for use with Adolescents and adults.
Scale Structure
This instrument consists of 30 items organized into 4 factors/subscales: Attraction to Life, Repulsion by Life, Attraction to Death, Repulsion by Death.
| Factor / Subscale | Items | N |
|---|---|---|
| Attraction to Life | 1,5,6,13,18,25,28 | 7 |
| Repulsion by Life | 2,9,14,15,16,21,30 | 7 |
| Attraction to Death | 8,17,19,22,23,26,27 | 7 |
| Repulsion by Death | 3,4,7,10,11,12,20,24,29 | 9 |
Response Format
Respondents rate each item using a custom response format.
Response anchors: 1 = Strongly disagree, 2 = Don't agree, 3 = Sometimes agree, sometimes disagree, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly agree.
Scoring
Items are scored by subscale, with each subscale sum representing a distinct dimension.
Total scores range from 1 to 5. Interpretation guidelines:
- Low agreement with the subscale dimension: 1 – 2
- Moderate/neutral agreement with the subscale dimension: 3 – 3
- High agreement with the subscale dimension: 4 – 5
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 .76 to .83 for the 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.