Measuring intermediate outcomes of violence prevention programs targeting African-American male youth: An exploratory assessment of the psychometric properties of six psychosocial measures

Abstract

This study examined the psychometric properties of six psychosocial measures that may be useful indicators of intermediate outcomes of violence prevention programs targeting African-American male youth. Baseline and 6 month follow-up survey data are used from 223 African-American male 12-16 year olds participating in a violence prevention program evaluation study. The constructs of interest are beliefs supporting aggression, aggressive conflict-resolution style, hostility, ethnic identity, self-esteem and hopelessness. Each construct is measured as a multi-item scale. Exploratory factor analysis results provided limited support for the unidimensionality of these scales, thus suggesting that further scale development is warranted. Reliability coefficients for the scales ranged from 0.55 to 0.80. Bivariate analyses with baseline data indicate that all six measures have construct and criterion-related validity, as they are associated with each other and with four behavioral criteria in the expected directions. Predictive validity was also demonstrated for beliefs supporting aggression, aggressive conflict-resolution style, hostility and hopelessness which were associated with weapon-carrying behaviors measured in the 6 month follow-up survey both before and after controlling for corresponding behaviors measured in the baseline survey.