ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Attitudes and knowledge of health professionals are critical dimensions in the management of suicidal behavior. The "Suicide Behavioral Attitude Questionnaire" (SBAQ) was designed in Brazil to measure these variables in paramedical personnel. AIM: To translate and validate the SBAQ in literary Arabic. METHODS: After author-approved translation and back-translation, the Arabic version of the SBAQ was distributed to 125 Tunisian caregivers working in psychiatric departments. Factor analysis and internal consistency were calculated. The stability was measured overtime using the paired Student's T-test. RESULTS: Cronbach's alpha value was 0.741. The adequacy index of the factorization factor Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) of our sample was 0.74. This value was higher than 0.5 which indicates that our data was suited for factor analysis. Bartlett's sphericity test result was significant, rejecting the null hypothesis. Three factors were extracted explaining 50.7% of the overall variance. Cronbach's alpha value for the three subscales was 0.735, 0.713 and 0.798. The instrument had good stability over time. CONCLUSIONS: The Arabic version of the SBAQ showed good reliability and validity allowing its use in Arabic speaking paramedical personnel.