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Measurement Properties of the Communities That Care® Youth Survey Across Demographic Groups

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Prevention science has produced information about risk and protective factors that predict adolescent drug use and related problem behaviors. This paper investigates the Communities That Care Youth Survey that measures multiple risk and protective factors. Using a sample of 172,628 students who participated in surveys administered in seven states in 1998, analyses were conducted to test the factor structure of these risk and protective factors and to test the equivalence of the factor models across five racial/ethnic groups (African Americans, Asians or Pacific Islanders, Caucasians, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans), four grade levels (6th, 8th, 10th, and 12th) and both gender groups. Results support the construct validity of the survey’s risk and protective factor scales and indicate that the measures are equally reliable across males and females and five racial/ethnic groups. Implications of these findings for science-based prevention planning are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Social Development Research Group, University of Washington, 9725 3rd Avenue N. E., Suite 401, Seattle, WA, 98115

    Renita R. Glaser, M. Lee Van. Horn, Michael W. Arthur, J. David. Hawkins & Richard F. Catalano

  2. Department of Psychology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina

    M. Lee Van. Horn

Authors
  1. Renita R. Glaser
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  2. M. Lee Van. Horn
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  3. Michael W. Arthur
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  4. J. David. Hawkins
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  5. Richard F. Catalano
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Correspondence to Michael W. Arthur.

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Glaser, R.R., Horn, M.L.V., Arthur, M.W. et al. Measurement Properties of the Communities That Care® Youth Survey Across Demographic Groups. J Quant Criminol 21, 73–102 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10940-004-1788-1

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