Psychometric Properties of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) Instrument in Brazilian College Students

Abstract Considering the importance of health risk behaviors (HRB) and the need for reliable instruments to evaluate them, this study was designed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the items of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) in a sample of 902 college students. Convergent validity, criterion, internal consistency, and temporal stability were evaluated. Higher correlations were observed between use of other drugs and use of marijuana (ρ = 0.537), and alcohol consumption and tobacco use (ρ = 0.418). Criterion validity was observed, with significant differences between domain scores according to gender. Adequate internal consistency, Cronbach’s alpha = 0.770 for overall scale. Most of the domains (82%) showed intraclass correlation coefficient ≥ 0.75 and 64.1% of the items showed kappa ≥ 0.60. The instrument seems to have indicators of criterion validity, internal consistency and temporal stability with satisfactory levels. We recommend that HRB assessment using YRBS should be performed separately on each domain.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Lima,Celina Aparecida Gonçalves, Maia,Maria de Fatima Matos, Brito,Maria Fernanda Santos Figueiredo, Pinho,Lucineia de, Silveira,Marise Fagundes
Format: Digital revista
Language:English
Published: Universidade de São Paulo, Faculdade de Filosofia Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Psicologia 2020
Online Access:http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0103-863X2020000100401
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