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The Psychometric Properties of the Assertive Community Treatment Transition Readiness Scale (ATR)

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Abstract

Assertive community treatment (ACT) is an evidence-based practice for individuals living with severe mental illnesses. Originally conceptualized as a lifetime service, there is a need for standardized measures to help ACT teams identify clients who are potentially ready for a transition to less intensive services. Here, to address this gap in the literature, the psychometric properties of the Assertive Community Treatment Transition Readiness Scale (ATR) were examined. Data on the ATR were collected from ACT staff from across the country who had experience transitioning ACT clients to less intensive services. Results from an exploratory factor analysis suggested a one-factor solution and that items on the ATR demonstrated excellent internal consistency reliability as well as predictive criterion validity and known-groups validity. The ATR is an easy-to-use, 18-item measure that has the potential, in combination with clinical judgment and practice wisdom, to be a useful tool for identifying ACT clients who could transition to a less intensive level of care.

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Change history

  • 20 March 2021

    In Appendix, the sentence “Questions about the ATR should be addressed to (omitted to preserve anonymity of authors).” has been updated as “Questions about the ATR should be addressed to Gary S. Cuddeback, Ph.D., at gcuddeba@email.unc.edu.”

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Funding

This research was funded by the Ohio Department of Mental Health and the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 325 Pittsboro Street, CB#3550, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA

    Gary S. Cuddeback & Juliet C. Wu

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  1. Gary S. Cuddeback
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  2. Juliet C. Wu
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Correspondence to Gary S. Cuddeback.

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Cuddeback, G.S., Wu, J.C. The Psychometric Properties of the Assertive Community Treatment Transition Readiness Scale (ATR). Community Ment Health J 57, 1301–1309 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-021-00806-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-021-00806-9

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