Friday, 14 January 2005 - 2:00 PM

This presentation is part of: Adolescent Mental Health

A Shorter Youth Self Report (YSR): Some Evidence Supporting its Predictive Validity

Purpose: This study builds upon a prior study that examined the factor structure of the Youth Self Report (Achenbach, 1991) (YSR) in a racially diverse sample of high school students (n =938). In that study, Exploratory Factor Analysis and Confirmatory Factor Analysis were used to develop an alternative YSR scale that was shorter (53 items), invariant across gender and racial/ethnic groups and had a more simple structure with each item loading on only one factor. The current study builds on the results of the first by using the new scale to examine the effects of violence exposure in multiple areas (family, school and community) on adolescent adjustment and comparing these results to Achenbach’s original scales to evaluate the predictive validity the new scale.

Method: Several hierarchical multiple regression analyses were performed to examine the effects of violence exposure in one’s family, community and school on adolescent adjustment, controlling for several sociodemographic variables (age, race, SES). More specifically results were compared using the original broad band externalizing score and 2 of the narrow band scores (aggression and delinquency) with the newer shorter version of the externalizing scale and the 2 comparable narrow band scales: physical aggression/bullying and delinquency.

Results: Findings were comparable when using either the original or shorter YSR scale. The shorter, newly developed YRR version appeared to demonstrate greater sensitivity, and greater predictive power in that a higher percentage of the variance in adolescent behavior problems was explained when the shorter scale was used. For example, when using the original externalizing score, both parent child violence and exposure to school violence explained 19% of the variance in externalizing behavior problems; these same variables explained 22% when using the shorter version. Also, whereas gender was a significant predictor when using the original scale, it was not significant when using the shorter version.

Implications for Practice: This shorter YSR scale offers the potential to be useful in both research and practice. It will continue to be a valuable in understanding adolescent problem behaviors and its shorter length will lend itself to screening and evaluation in agencies serving youth.

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