International Assessment of Risk, Protection and Problem Behavior Outcomes: A Comparison Between the US and Scotland

Introduction: The Evidence2Success Youth Experience Survey (E2S Survey) is a core component of Evidence2Success, a science-based approach to prevention and strategy development. It measures the prevalence of a range of youth outcomes (including behavior, educational skills, emotional wellbeing, physical health and social relationships) and related risk and protective factors in the community, school, family, peer and individual domains. The primary function of this survey data is to inform the prioritization of outcomes and risk and protective factors and to help identify and implement appropriate evidence-based programs that align with local need. This study investigates the basic psychometric properties of the instrument, and explores the variation in the prevalence of outcomes, risk and protective factors across different cultural contexts in the US and the UK.

Methodology: The Evidence2Success self-report survey was applied in one mid-sized east-coast city in the US, and in four different localities in Scotland, UK. In the US, data were collected from students in grades 6, 8, 10 and 12 attending public schools (N=4,842, response rate = 81%). We used Scottish data collected from equivalent grades (N=18,200, response rate = 89%). We examined the internal consistency of the survey scales and compared them across the two countries. Cut-points for identifying the percentages of youth at elevated risk and depressed protection were calculated using the Arthur et al, 2007 methodology.  Levels of risk, protection and prevalence of outcomes by grade level were compared across countries.

Results: The reliability of most scales in the survey was adequate across both countries, with a few exceptions and differences across sites. We observed important variations in prevalence of outcomes and in levels of risk and protection between the US and UK.

Conclusions: Initial analyses suggest that although the instrument generally performs well, some minor improvements may be beneficial in future applications. The variation in outcomes, risk and protective factors indicate that there is meaningful local variation, supporting the need for local needs assessment to inform prioritization and tailoring of prevention strategies to the local context. Our results have important implications for prevention science and the wider application of the Evidence2Success approach.