Validation of the Perkins Adolescent Risk Screen (PARS).
Publication/Presentation Date
12-1-2003
Abstract
PURPOSE: To examine the initial psychometric properties for the PARS, a brief interview used to screen for 16 items of adolescent risk and protective factors.
METHODS: Participants included 193 adolescents, attending public middle and high schools or a university-based Adolescent Clinic. Participants completed a PARS interview, as well as a battery of questionnaires. Approximately 31% of participants received a second PARS interview from an independent rater to assess inter-rater consistency.
RESULTS: Descriptive statistics revealed that participants, on average, were rated as low to moderate risk for health-related difficulties across all PARS items. Descriptive statistics also showed important risk patterns in this sample of adolescents (e.g., 1/5 of sample not exercising at all). Factor analysis yielded a total of five factors (Risk Factors, Protection Factors, Relationships/Mood, Motivation Issues, Weight Issues), accounting for 58% of the variance in PARS item scores. Satisfactory levels of internal consistency and inter-rater agreement for the PARS score were found. Convergent and divergent validity of PARS scores were supported by correlations obtained with similar and dissimilar measures, respectively. A significant age group difference was obtained in the total PARS score, with adolescents aged 17-19 years obtaining higher scores than did adolescents aged 14-16 years. No significant gender differences were found.
CONCLUSIONS: Our results support the initial psychometric properties (i.e., reliability, validity) of the PARS as a measure of health risk and protective factors in adolescents. The PARS is a brief, efficient means of obtaining important health risk information from adolescents throughout periodic routine health care visits.
Volume
33
Issue
6
First Page
462
Last Page
470
ISSN
1054-139X
Published In/Presented At
Adams, C. D., Perkins, K. C., Lumley, V., Hughes, C., Burns, J. J., & Omar, H. A. (2003). Validation of the Perkins Adolescent Risk Screen (PARS). The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine, 33(6), 462–470. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1054-139x(03)00136-8
Disciplines
Medicine and Health Sciences | Pediatrics
PubMedID
14642708
Department(s)
Department of Pediatrics
Document Type
Article