Test-Retest Reliability of Self-Reported Substance Use and Sexual Risk Behavior Among at-Risk Adolescents.

Adolescents often engage in behaviors such as substance use and risky sexual activity that can lead to negative health and psychological consequences for themselves and others. Accurate measurement of these behaviors in surveys is challenging given that the behaviors are often viewed as undesirable and/or are illegal, so it is important to test the psychometric properties of instruments used to assess adolescent risk behaviors. The current study aimed to assess the test-retest reliability of a widely used measure of youth risk-taking behavior, the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). A sample of 156 at-risk adolescents aged 16-18 years (81% male; 61% White) completed the YRBS retrospectively across intervals ranging from 3 to 12 days during their stay in a residential program at which they were under close supervision and had limited ability to engage in new risk behaviors. Participants were asked to complete the YRBS based on their "typical" (pre-program) behavior at both administrations, which were 10-14 weeks into their stay. The reliability of responses was assessed using kappa and weighted kappa analyses. Findings indicate moderate to substantial reliability for nearly all items, suggesting that at-risk youth reliably reported their engagement in health risk behaviors across multiple administrations and supporting the psychometric strength of the YRBS measure for use with this population.

Optimal PAI-A Cutoffs to Determine Risk for Non-Suicidal Self-Injury (NSSI) and Suicide-Related Behavior (SRB) among At-Risk Adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: This study examines psychopathology and personality correlates of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicide-related behavior (SRB) in an understudied sample of adolescents who have exhibited behaviors (e.g., delinquent acts, premature high school termination) that place them at-risk for poor psychosocial outcomes. METHOD: Participants included a predominantly White male sample of 182 adolescents (Mage = 16.82 years). In addition to information about NSSI and SRB histories, participants self-reported various facets of personality and psychopathology on the Personality Assessment Inventory-Adolescent (PAI-A). RESULTS: Logistic regression analyses indicated that the Suicidal Ideation (SUI) scale on the PAI-A was the strongest predictor of both NSSI and SRB history, as it outperformed other relevant PAI-A scales and the Suicide Potential Index (SPI), an aggregate scale that was designed to assess for suicide risk using the PAI for adults. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses were also conducted to determine optimal cutoff scores for significant PAI-A predictors. CONCLUSIONS: Findings from the current study can be used to identify NSSI and SRB risk and target these life-threatening behaviors when working with at-risk adolescents.HighlightsPAI-A SUI outperformed other PAI-A variables in predicting NSSI and SRB risk.PAI SPI did not perform as well in adolescents compared to adult samples.Cutoff scores in the current sample were well below those in the PAI-A manual.

Applying the PAI Treatment Process Index to PAI-As Completed by Adolescents in a Residential Program.

The Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) Treatment Process Index (TPI) is a measure of treatment amenability based on an index of factors related to poor treatment outcomes (e.g., hostility, lack of social support, and poor impulse control). In this study, the formula used to calculate the TPI for the adult PAI was applied to PAI-Adolescent (PAI-As) protoocols completed by 372 adolescents (mean age: 16.8 years; 80% male) during a 22-week residential program for at-risk youth. The number of disciplinary infractions received during the program was used as an indicator of the participants' response to the program. Average PAI-A scale scores and TPI scores were higher than those previously reported for community samples, but lower than those found in clinical samples. TPI scores were positively associated with disciplinary infractions, particularly nonaggressive infractions, when controlling for demographic factors and other clinically relevant variables. Results suggest that the the TPI has relevance for adolescents completing the PAI-A.