ABSTRACT

To date, research has focused on the scale-level properties of juvenile risk assessments, such as their predictive validity across populations. Although these studies are valuable, they provide little item-level information to inform future developments in assessment strategies. Item-level information, including the difficulty and discrimination parameters of the items that comprise the scale, provides insight into patterns of endorsement across risk levels. The current study examines the item-level characteristics of the Ohio Youth Assessment System-Disposition Tool (OYAS-DIS) in a sample of 459 justice-involved youths across a Midwestern state. Using the two-parameter logistic model of Item Response Theory, discrimination and difficulty parameters were estimated for each item that comprises the OYAS-DIS. A test information curve was also examined to determine the levels at which the OYAS-DIS provides the most information. Results indicated that prosocial decision-making items had low difficulty, meaning that even low-risk youths endorsed them. Overall, OYAS-DIS provides the most information for low- to high-risk youths, but additional items should be created to examine prosocial decision-making, as these items may be characteristic of justice-involved youths as a group and not an indicator of greater recidivism risk.

摘要

迄今为止，研究主要集中在青少年风险评估的规模级属性上，例如它们在人群中的预测有效性。尽管这些研究很有价值，但它们提供的项目级信息很少，无法为评估策略的未来发展提供信息。项目级别的信息，包括构成量表的项目的难度和辨别参数，提供了对跨风险级别认可模式的洞察力。当前的研究在中西部各州的 459 名参与司法的青年样本中检查了俄亥俄青年评估系统-处置工具 (OYAS-DIS) 的项目级特征。使用项目反应理论的双参数逻辑模型，为构成 OYAS-DIS 的每个项目估计了辨别力和难度参数。还检查了测试信息曲线以确定 OYAS-DIS 提供最多信息的级别。结果表明，亲社会决策项目的难度较低，这意味着即使是低风险的年轻人也认可它们。总的来说，OYAS-DIS 为低风险到高风险的青少年提供了最多的信息，但应该创建额外的项目来检查亲社会决策，因为这些项目可能是涉及司法的青少年作为一个群体的特征，而不是一个指标更大的再犯风险。