Adolescent Symptom Checklist for Juvenile Delinquents

• NCJ Number: 70253
• Journal: Journal of Abnormal Psychology Volume: 7 Issue: 1 Dated: (1979) Pages: 15-29
• Author(s): M Kohn; M B Koretzky; M S Haft
• Date Published: 1979
• Length: 15 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Part of this paper was presented at the meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association, Boston, MA, March 1978

Annotation

A rating instrument was developed to assess the personality functioning of problem adolescents who have a brief history of official delinquency.

Abstract

Subjects were 186 residents (male and female) at a short-term diagnostic detention facility. The instrument that emerged from a factor analysis was tested for reliability, validity, and cross-situational generality. Two major orthogonal factors appeared--Apathy-Withdrawal and Anger-Defiance. For each subject, scores were obtained by summing the ratings of these two factors as noted by child care workers who had observed each child for a week. Additional data regarding each child were gathered from school teachers who rated the subjects on such behavior as level of functioning, verbal fluency, and ability to work with others. Data also came from court records regarding the number and severity of charges lodged against each subject. The findings extend the two-factor model of social emotional functioning to a new population--adolescent boys and girls who have been to court before. The two factors were found to be orthogonal and reliable. The two symptom clusters were demonstrated to be congruent with corresponding dimensions on independently developed instruments and to have validity across a variety of raters, criterion measures, and settings. Stability of personality functioning was found not only between two subenvironments of the detention facility but also between behavior there and behavior in the community, as measured by frequency and gravity of illegal activities. High scores on Anger-Defiance were related to frequency of several offense criteria, while Apathy-Withdrawal was found to be inversely related to several offense criteria. Such a model provides a parsimonious yet psychologically meaningful way of describing the population. The model also has practical implications for the development of administrative procedures, treatment approaches, and teaching styles, and the provision of maximum help to the youths in rehabilitation before they return to their families and neighborhoods. One footnote and 16 references are provided. (Author abstract modified)