Appendix 9: Family Process and Adolescent Outcome Measures

Appendix 9 describes a number of variables created by Child Trends, Inc. and is available for download as a PDF. The variables discussed in the Appendix are:

Documentation on mental health scale

As the mental health scale was not included in round 1, a description of the variable FP_YMNTHLTH was not provided in Appendix 9. Documentation is provided below.

Items and Response Categories:

1. How much of the time during the last month have you been a very nervous person? R48677. [YSAQ-282C]
2. How much of the time during the last month have you felt calm and peaceful? (reverse-coded) R48678. [YSAQ-282D]
3. How much of the time during the last month have you felt downhearted and blue? R48679. [YSAQ-282E]
4. How much of the time during the last month have you been a happy person? (reverse-coded) R48680. [YSAQ-282F]
5. How much of the time during the last month have you felt so down in the dumps that nothing could cheer you up? R48681. [YSAQ-282G]

The responses were measured on a 4-point scale:

Scale Creation. The responses to the five items were summed: scores could range from 5 to 20 points. Higher scores indicate more positive mental health, and lower scores indicate more emotional problems.

Variable Name. YMNTHLTH.

Age of Youth. All age group (cohort age: 12 to 16; age at Round 4 survey date: 15 to 21).

Frequencies:

Considerable variation can be noted, though most youth report fairly positive mental health.

Data Quality. A score on the Mental Health Scale was obtained for respondents who answered at least four of the five items. Respondents who answered only four of the five questions were assigned a weighted score based on the 20-point scale (i.e., raw score*(5/5-missing)). Respondents who answered fewer than four items were coded as missing.

Internal Consistency/Reliability. Cronbach's alpha for these scales are considered good in terms of consistency/reliability. Internal consistency as measured by Cronbach's alpha indicates that the items hang together well in a given administration. Cronbach's alpha is the preferred measure of internal consistency/reliability (Carmine & Zeller, 1985).

Reference

Carmine, E.G., & Zeller, R.A. (1985). Reliability and validity assessment. In J.L. Sullivan(Ed.), Quantitative applications in the social sciences. Sage: Beverly Hills, CA.