Psychometric properties of the Iranian version of 'Communities That Care Youth Survey'

Abstract

This article investigated the psychometric properties of 'Communities That Care Youth Survey' (CTC-YS) among Iranian adolescents. To prepare the CTC-YS for administration in Iran, it was translated from English to Persian and back translated to English. A total of 753 Iranian adolescents aged 15-18 years old filled out a CTC-YS questionnaire. Its reliability for Iranian youth was assessed using Cronbach's alpha coefficient and its construct validity was assessed using confirmatory factor analysis. After removing two items from individual/peer and community domains, a suitable internal reliability was found among items of the 29 sub-scales (0.66-0.89). The findings of construct validity suggest that existing measures of risk and protective factors have good construct validity. The validity and reliability of CTC-YS showed that this questionnaire has appropriate psychometric characteristics and can be made available to researchers in Iranian adolescent health as an appropriate tool for future research.