Session: Assessing Community-Wide Risk, Protection, and Outcomes for Adolescents with the Evidence2Success Youth Experience Survey: Relationships with Multiple Problem Behaviors, Among Ethnic Groups and Across International Borders (Society for Prevention Research 23rd Annual Meeting)

Obtaining accurate measures of community-wide levels of risk and protection is a critical part of many science-based approaches to prevention focused on youth. The Evidence2Success Youth Experience Survey (E2S survey) is a self-report survey for middle and high school students designed to measure outcomes in five areas (behavior, education, emotional wellbeing, social relationships and physical health), as well as the associated risk and protective factors in the community, family, school, peer and individual domains. The survey was developed as part of Evidence2Success, a prevention model that emphasizes community and public agency engagement, and the use of evidence-based programs aligned with community needs. Evidence2Success was developed as an international collaboration and versions of the model have been piloted in the U.S. and U.K.

The three papers in this symposium use data collected with the Evidence2Succes survey, and each explores psychometric properties and findings from this instrument. Then first two papers use data collected in one pilot city in the U.S., while the third adds data from Scotland.

The E2S survey is comprised mostly of scales that have been used in preexisting, tested large-scale surveys, especially the Communities That Care Youth Survey, which was expanded to assess a wider range of positive and problem outcomes, and risk and protective factors. Most of the risk and protective factors included in the E2S survey have been shown to predict behavioral problems in youth, particularly substance use, delinquency, violence, and depression. In the first paper of this symposium, we examine the relationship between these risk and protective factors and an outcome not previously examined: risky sexual behavior. The second paper examines the relationship of risk and protective factors  with problem behavior outcomes (delinquency, conduct problems and school suspensions) and tests for equivalence of these relationships across three ethnic groups (Latinos, African Americans and Caucasians). The final paper compares the reliability of the survey scales across international samples in the U.S. and Scotland, and compares prevalence of outcomes and levels of risk and protection across the two counties. Having an instrument that can help us make cross national comparisons can benefit the development and implementation of science-based prevention efforts in a global environment.

The papers in this symposium align with the conference theme on Epidemiology and Etiology, as they support the identification of risk and protective factors—across varied contexts and domains—as a basis for targeting preventive interventions.