Constructing a measure of shame-proneness and its relation to treatment outcome for hospitalized suicidal individuals

A self-report scale was constructed which attempts to measure the degree to which an individual is succeptible to experiencing debilitating amounts of shame. The concepts of Heinz Kohut's psychoanalytic psychology of the self were employed in the formulation of the definition of and theoretical perspective underlying this study's use of the concept of shame. The Shame-Proneness Scale was found to have sound psychometric properties with high levels of interitem consistency (alpha coefficient of .93) and a high test-retest reliability (r = .81). The Scale had expected relationships with measures of self-esteem, social anxiety, guilt, and private self-consciousness. The Scale was then used to predict the response to treatment of suicidal individuals hospitalized in an acute care mental health facility. Results indicated that a hospitalized, suicidal individual's score on the Shame-Proneness Scale was a significant but limited predictor of a his/her response to treatment, as evidenced by his/her length of stay in the hospital. Additional research and refinement is needed to further establish the reliability and validity of the Scale, to explore the relation of the Shame-Proneness Scale to other self-psychological scales, and to establish the utility of the Scale within clinical populations.