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

Disciplines

Medicine and Health Sciences | Pediatrics

PubMedID

14642708

Department(s)

Department of Pediatrics

Document Type

Article

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