Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

A Brief Screening Measure of Adolescent Risk Behavior

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Child Psychiatry and Human Development Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study examined the factor structure and reliability of a brief but comprehensive measure, the adolescent risk inventory (ARI), designed to assess adolescent risk behaviors and attitudes. Measures assessing demographics and risk behaviors were administered to 134 youth (ages 12–19) in psychiatric treatment. A confirmatory factor analysis of the four attitude scales (HIV Anxiety, HIV Prevention Self-Efficacy, General Distress, and General Risk) revealed excellent goodness of fit statistics. Exploratory factor analysis of the behavior items revealed three behavior factors (Sex Risk, Abuse/Self-Harm, and Acting Out). The preliminary analysis suggested that all subscales had reasonable internal consistency reliability and appeared to be independent measures, rather than part of a single unitary construct. Differences emerged based on gender, sexual activity status, and trauma history. Exploratory regression analyses revealed that, even when controlling for demographic factors and sex risk attitudes (e.g., HIV Prevention Self-Efficacy), Abuse/self-harm behaviors were highly significantly predictive of sex risk. These analyses suggest that the ARI can be useful in quickly identifying the broad range of risk behaviors found among adolescents with psychiatric disorders.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Centers for Disease Control (2001) Young people at risk: HIV/AIDS among America’s youth. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pubs/facts/youth.htm. Accessed 13 November 2004

  2. Johnston LD, O’Malley PM, Bachman JG (2002) Monitoring the future: National results on adolescent drug use Overview of key findings (2001 edn). NIH (Publication No. 02–5105). National Institute on Drug Abuse, Bethesda, MD

  3. Centers for Disease Control, Prevention (2002) Trends in sexual risk behaviors among high school students-United States-2001. MMWR 51:856–859

    Google Scholar 

  4. Agnew R (2003) An integrated theory of the adolescent peak in offending. Youth Soc 34:263–299

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. McKeown RE, Garrison CZ, Cuffe SP et al (1998) Incidence and predictors of suicidal behaviors in a longitudinal sample of young adolescents. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatr 37:612–619

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Snyder H (2003) Juvenile arrests 2001. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  7. Snyder H, Sickmund M (1999) Juvenile offenders and victims: 1999 national report. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  8. Office of Statistics and Programming, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2001) 10 Leading causes of death, United States 2001, all races, both sexes. Available at: http://webapp.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/leadcaus10.html. Accessed 13 November 2004

  9. Jessor R (1991) Risk behavior in adolescence: a psychosocial framework for understanding and action. J Adolesc Health 12:597–605

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Devieux J, Malow R, Stein JA et al (2002) Impulsivity and HIV risk among ajudicated alcohol- and other drug-abusing adolescent offenders. AIDS Educ Prev 14:24–35

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Guo J, Chung IJ, Hill KG et al (2002) Developmental relationships between adolescent substance use and risky sexual behavior in young adulthood. J Adolesc Health 31:354–362

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Strunin L, Hingson RW (1993) Alcohol use and risk of HIV infection. Alcohol Health Res World 17:35–38

    Google Scholar 

  13. Zweig J, Phillips SD, Duberstein Lindberg L (2002) Predicting adolescent profiles of risk: looking beyond demographics. J Adolesc Health 31:343–353

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Zabin LS, Hardy JB, Smith EA et al (1986) Substance use and its relation to sexual activity among inner-city youth. J Adolesc Health Care 7:320–331

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Brown L, Houck C, Hadley W et al (2005) Self-cutting and sexual risk among adolescents in intensive psychiatric treatment. Psychiatr Serv 52(2):216–219

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Donenberg GR, Emerson E, Bryant FB et al (2001) Understanding AIDS-risk behavior in clinically disturbed adolescents: links to psychopathology and peer relationships. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatr 40:642–653

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Houck CD, Lescano CM, Brown LK et al (2006) “Islands of risk”: identifying subtypes of adolescents at risk for HIV. J Ped Psychol 31:619–629

    Google Scholar 

  18. Malow R, McMahon R, Cremer DJ et al (1997) Psychosocial predictors of HIV risk among adolescent offenders who abuse drugs. Psychiatr Serv 48:185–187

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Brown LK, Danovsky MB, Lourie KJ et al (1997) Adolescents with psychiatric disorders and the risk of HIV. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatr 36:1609–1617

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. DiClemente RJ, Pies CA, Straits C et al (1989) Evaluation of school-based AIDS education curricula in San Francisco. J Sex Res 26:188–198

    Google Scholar 

  21. Lavery B, Siegel AW, Cousins JH et al (1993) Adolescent risk taking: an analysis of problem behaviors in problem children. J Exp Child Psychol 55:277–294

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Brooks TL, Harris SK, Thrall JS et al (2002) Association of adolescent risk behaviors with mental health symptoms in high school students. J Adolesc Health 31:240–246

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Tubman JG, Windle M, Windle RC (1996) Cumulative sexual intercourse patterns among middle adolescents: problem behavior precursors and concurrent health risk behaviors. J Adolesc Health 18:182–191

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Brener ND, Kann L, McManus T et al (2002) Reliability of the 1999 youth risk behavior survey questionnaire. J Adoles Health 31:336–342

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Costa FM, Jessor R, Fortenberry DJ et al (1996) Psychosocial conventionality, health orientation, and contraceptive use in adolescence. J Adolesc Health 18:404–416

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Klitzner M, Schwartz RH, Gruenewald P et al (1987) Screening for risk factors for adolescent alcohol and drug use. Am J Dis Child 141:45–49

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Reynolds WM (1991) A school-based procedure for the identification of adolescents at risk for suicidal behaviors. Fam Community Health 14:64–75

    Google Scholar 

  28. Steiner H, Pavelski R, Pitts T et al (1998) The juvenile wellness and health survey (JWHS-76): a school based screening instrument for general and mental health in high school students. Child Psychiatr Hum Dev 29:141–155

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Vaughan RD, McCarthy JF, Walther HJ et al (1996) The development, reliability, and validity of a risk factor screening survey for urban minority junior high school students. J Adolesc Health 19:171–178

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Siegel LJ (1994) Commentary: Magic Johnson’s magic? A commentary on preadolescents perceptions of AIDS before and after Magic Johnson’s announcement. J Ped Psychol 19:19–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Busen NH, Modeland V, Kouzekanani K (2001) Adolescent cigarette smoking and health risk behavior. J Ped Nurs 16:187–193

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Alexander CS, Kim YJ, Ensminger M et al (1993) A measure of risk taking for young adolescents: reliability and validity assessments. J Youth Adolesc 19:559–569

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Zuckerman M (1984) Sensation seeking: a comparative approach to a human trait. Behav Brain Sci 7:413–471

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Zuckerman M (1988) Sensation seeking and behavior disorders. Arch Gen Psychiatr 45:502–504

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Brown LK, Lourie KJ, Zlotnick C et al (2000) The impact of sexual abuse on the sexual risk taking behavior of adolescents in intensive psychiatric treatment. Am J Psychiatr 157:1413–1415

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Achenbach TM, Edelbrock CS (1983) Manual for the child behavior checklist and revised behavior profile. University of Vermont, Department of Psychology, Burlington, VT

    Google Scholar 

  37. Thomas A, Donnell AJ, Young TR (2004) Factor structure and differential validity of the expanded brief psychiatric rating scale. Assessment 11:177–187

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Bentler PM, Bonett DG (1980) Significance tests and goodness of fit in the analysis of covariance structures. Psychol Bull 88:588–606

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Browne MW, Cudeck R (1992) Alternative ways of assessing model fit. Sociol Methods Res 21:230–258

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. O’Connor BP (2000) SPSS and SAS programs for determining the number of component using parallel analysis and Velicer’s MAP test. Behav Res Methods Instrum Comput 32:396–401

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Brown LK, DiClemente RJ, Beausoleil N (1997) Comparison of HIV-related knowledge, attitudes, intentions and behaviors among sexually active and abstinent young adults. J Adolesc Health 13:140–145

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Wanberg KW, Horn JL (1983) Assessment of alcohol use with multi-dimensional concepts and measures. Am Psychol 38:1055–1069

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  43. Donenberg GR, Wilson HW, Emerson E et al (2002) Holding the line with a watchful eye: the impact of perceived parental permissiveness and parental monitoring on risky sexual behavior among adolescents in psychiatric care. AIDS Educ Prev 14:138–157

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  44. Brown LK, Kessel SM, Lourie KJ et al (1992) The influence of sexual abuse on AIDS-related attitudes and behaviors in psychiatrically hospitalized adolescents. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatr 33:313–319

    Google Scholar 

  45. Finkelhor D (1986) Sourcebook on child sexual abuse. Sage Publications Inc, Thousand Oaks, CA

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Research supported by NIMH grants R01 MH61149 and R29 MH50416 to the fourth author (LKB).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior-Brown Medical School, Bradley/Hasbro Children’s Research Center-Rhode Island Hospital, One Hoppin Street, Suite 204, Providence, RI, 02903, USA

    Celia M. Lescano, Wendy S. Hadley, Nancy I. Beausoleil, Larry K. Brown, Domenic D’eramo & Abigail Zimskind

Authors
  1. Celia M. Lescano
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Wendy S. Hadley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Nancy I. Beausoleil
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Larry K. Brown
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Domenic D’eramo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Abigail Zimskind
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Celia M. Lescano.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lescano, C.M., Hadley, W.S., Beausoleil, N.I. et al. A Brief Screening Measure of Adolescent Risk Behavior. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 37, 325–336 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-006-0037-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-006-0037-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation