Program Outcomes for Youth
Reduction of Risk Behaviors in Youth including: 
Delinquent Behavior 
Measures 
 
Name: Self Report Delinquency Scale
Author: Elliot, Huiziga, and Ageton 
Date: 1985
Instrument Description:  Elliot, et. al.'s (1985) Self Report Delinquency scale indicates levels of several types of delinquency. The scale consists of 24 items, which examine frequency of minor delinquent acts, as well as more serious types of delinquent behavior, and is said to measure the full range of delinquent activity.  Responses are scored by the adolescent listing the number of times he or she has engaged in an activity in the last six months.  This scale has an alpha of .93.
Literature Reference: Elliot, D.S., Huizinga, D., and Ageton, S. (1985).  Explaining delinquency and drug use.  Beverly Hills, CA:  Sage.
Cost: Free
Intended Audience: Adolescents
Psychometrics: This scale had a Cronbach’s alpha of .93 in validation study.
Advantages/Disadvantages Self report methods are beneficial for this population in that poor and minority adolescents tend to be over-represented in police records, but class differences disappear when self-report methods are used (Larzelere and Patterson, 1990).  This measure has been widely used with a variety of populations, and is the most commonly cited measure of delinquent behavior.  It is easy to administer as a paper and pencil instrument, and takes about 10 minutes to complete.
 
Name: Social Interaction between Siblings Interview (SIBS)
Author: Slomkowski, Wasserman, & Schaffer 
Date: 1997
Instrument Description:  This scale is designed to examine sibling influences on antisocial behavior.  Mothers complete the interview, consisting of 87 questions, about a sibling pair.  Four subscales are created:  amount of contact between siblings, positive qualities, negative qualities and influence among siblings.  Scale items are included in the interviews.
Where Available: Copy available from first author upon request
Literature Reference: Slomkowski, C., Wasserman, G., & Schaffer, D. (1997).  A new instrument to assess sibling relationships in antisocial youth:  The social interaction between siblings (SIBS) interview:  A research note.  Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 38, 253-256.
Cost: Free
Intended Audience: Mothers of children aged 6 - 15
Psychometrics: This scale had a Cronbach’s alpha of .93 in validation study.  Test-retest reliability  ranged from adequate to excellent in the four subscales.
Advantages/Disadvantages Time to complete instrument is about 40 minutes.  It may be more beneficial (and easier) to obtain a direct assessment of childrens’ and adolescents’ perceptions, than getting parental observations.
 
Name: Australian Self-Reported Delinquency Scale
Author: Mak
Date: 1993
Instrument Description:  This scale is designed to examine delinquent behavior among Australian adolescents, as well as assess delinquent behavior ranging from minor status offenses to more serious crimes.  Nine subscales are created:  cheat, status, fight, vehicle, drugs, theft, harm, driving, and disturb. 
Where Available: Measure is present in the article, more information is available from the first author.
Literature Reference: Mak, A.S. (1993).  A self-report delinquency scale for Australian adolescents.  Australian Journal of Psychology, 45, 75-79.
Cost: Free
Intended Audience: Adolescents under the age of 18.
Psychometrics: This scale had a Cronbach’s alpha of .90 for males and .87 for females in validation study.  Factor analyses of subscales ranged from adequate to strong.  Test-retest reliability information was not available.
Advantages/Disadvantages There is a social desirability scale embedded in the measure, which helps determine whether adolescents are merely “telling you what you want to here”.  The measure may only be appropriate for Australian adolescents.
 
Name: The Seattle Self-Report Instrument
Author: Hindelang, Hirschi, and Weis
Date: 1981
Instrument Description:  This text discusses several controversial issues surrounding delinquency:  self-report vs. official statistics, as well as issues surrounding gender, race and socioeconomic status.  The scale consists of 69 items, and the following indices were present:  official contact, serious crime, delinquency, drug use, school and family offenses.
Where Available: Measure is present in the appendices of text, comprehensive information is presented on reliability and validity within text.
Literature Reference: Hindelang, M.J., Hirschi, T., & Weis, J.G. (1981).  Measuring Delinquency.  Beverly Hills, CA:  Sage Press.
Cost: Free
Intended Audience: Adolescents under the age of 18. 
Psychometrics: Analyses of psychometric properties were extensive.  Reliabilities ranged from .87 in black females, to .93 in white males.  Test -retest reliabilities were .95 for females, and .96 for males.  Face and concurrent validity were also examined and ranged from adequate to high. 
Advantages/Disadvantages Survey contains 63 items, would take considerable time to complete (about a half an hour).
 
Name: Self-Report Early Delinquency Instrument (SRED)
Author: Moffitt and Silva
Date: 1988
Instrument Description:  There are two forms of this instrument: a 58 item survey and a 29-item survey, which focuses on activities that are specifically illegal.  In addition, the full scale focuses on “norm violations,” such as attending R rated movies without parental permission or making crank phone calls.  It is possible to add an interview component with administration of the “full scale.”
Where Available: Measure is present in the appendices of text, information is presented on reliability and validity within text.
Literature Reference: Moffitt, T.E., & Silva, P.A. (1988).  Self-reported delinquency:  Results from an instrument for New Zealand.
Cost: Free
Intended Audience: Early adolescents (tested on group of adolescents aged 13, and deemed appropriate until age 17).
Psychometrics: Internal consistency for the full scale was .91, and was .81 for the shorter version.  Test-retest scores were also adequate.  Validity was assessed by correlating scores on SRED to parental and teacher observations of delinquent behavior, and SRED scores were significantly associated with independent observations.
Advantages/Disadvantages Developed for a New Zealand population.  Has both a short and long term form, with similar psychometric properties, which makes it possible to determine how much time you want participants to invest in taking the pencil and paper instrument.  The “norm violations” may be useful for a broader definition of antisocial behavior.
 
 
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