Abstract
Purpose: To develop a brief, multidimensional screening instrument for adolescents that addresses psychosocial domains critical to adolescent preventive health care services. Methods: Secondary analyses were conducted on survey data obtained in 1995 from a school sample of 76,159 students in grades 9 and 12, as well as 893 adolescents from juvenile correctional facilities, 500 adolescents from chemical dependency treatment programs, and 575 adolescents from residential behavioral treatment programs. A comprehensive set of 300 survey items was used in a series of discriminant analyses to determine which items best distinguished males and females in each clinical sample from their counterparts in the school sample. Results: The item selection for the Adolescent Health Review was guided both by empirical analyses and clinical judgment. The final screen is comprised of 33 demographic and clinical items that address a variety of psychosocial domains. The computerized, self-administered screen can be completed in about 3 minutes. The screen is scored automatically and produces an easy-to-read risk-assessment profile. Because screening items were drawn from a large epidemiologic survey, normative profiles are available for each age and gender subgroup. Conclusions: A brief, empirically derived screening instrument, designed to address a range of adolescent risks, offers an opportunity for information gathering that otherwise might not be incorporated into routine clinic visits.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 131-139 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Journal of Adolescent Health |
Volume | 29 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2001 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This study was supported in part by federal contract no. 277-95-1035 awarded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, and federal grant no. 5 R01 AA12179-02 awarded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment.
Keywords
- Adolescent Health Review
- Adolescents
- GAPS
- Health risks
- Mental health
- Screening
- Substance abuse