Parent Ratings of Youth Behavior in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago on the Adjustment Scales for Children and Adolescents: Parent Edition
Open Access
- Author:
- Pearson, Kelli A.
- Graduate Program:
- School Psychology
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- June 01, 2007
- Committee Members:
- Barbara Schaefer, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Ronald A Madle, Committee Member
James Coatsworth, Committee Member
Pamela Marie Cole, Committee Member - Keywords:
- ASCA: P
Trinidad and Tobago - Abstract:
- This study examined parent ratings of youth behavior in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago using the Adjustment Scales for Children and Adolescents: Parent Edition (ASCA: P). The ASCA: P addresses the lack of an available contextual approach to collect information from the home. The findings of the current study build upon the research by Mordell and McDermott (2001) suggesting that the ASCA: P has promise as a useful assessment tool in the US. This study investigated several properties of the ASCA: P including the component structure, internal consistency reliability and significant differences across the ASCA: P syndromes based on gender, age, ethnicity and the highest level of education attained by the parent. The sample was comprised of a random stratified sample of 783 Trinidadian students. Principal component analysis using equamax rotation methods revealed a three component structure of Withdrawn, Aggressive, and Attention Seeking/Impulsive syndromes. A second-order component analysis revealed two global components of externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Cronbach’s coefficient alphas indicated reliability difficulties in the Aggressive syndrome among females (.54), the Mixed ethnic group (.53) and for youth with mothers with beyond a primary level of education (.58). Significant ANOVA results included that boys had higher scores than girls on the Attention Seeking/Impulsive and Global Externalizing scales, the Mixed/other ethnic group had higher Attention Seeking/Impulsive scores than the East Indian students and mothers with higher levels of education had children with higher Attention Seeking/Impulsive scores. Results indicate that with additional research and needed modifications to improve its technical properties, the ASCA: P is a potentially usefully tool to advance our understanding and identification of behavior pathology in Trinidad.