Faculty Publications

Measuring Adolescent Prosocial And Health Risk Behavior In Schools: Initial Development Of A Screening Measure

Document Type

Article

Keywords

Adolescents, High school, Measurement, Prosocial behavior, Risk behavior

Journal/Book/Conference Title

School Mental Health

Volume

6

Issue

2

First Page

137

Last Page

149

Abstract

Risk behavior in adolescence is widely researched and is an important focus for researchers, federal and state agencies, and schools; however, goals differ across these settings and as such the measurement strategies must also differ. Schools require more frequent and efficient measures that better align with educational goals of increasing positive behaviors. The Prosocial and Health Adolescent Risk Behavior Scale was developed to meet this need. Participants were 682, 9th through 12th grade students (53 % female; 57 % White), from three midwestern high schools. Reliability and preliminary validity analyses resulted in a brief 20 item scale that measures both prosocial and health risk behavior participation. This scale has the potential to move adolescent risk behavior research and measurement forward through its unique conceptualization of risk behavior and its potential use across both research and applied settings. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York.

Department

Department of Educational Psychology, Foundations, and Leadership Studies

Original Publication Date

1-1-2014

DOI of published version

10.1007/s12310-014-9123-y

Link to Full Text

Comments?

Share

COinS