Risk and protective factors in adolescents: adapting Communities that Care Youth Survey for Portuguese context
Risk and protective factors predicting adolescent problem behaviours, such as substance abuse and delinquency, hold promise for preventive interventions, particularly in community contexts. To promote the development of evidence-based preventive interventions, local health officials and policy makers benefit from data on risk and protective factors in their community.
Public policies continue to point to the development of evidence-based interventions as a strategic axis for action (National Plan for the Reduction of Addictive Behaviours and Dependencies (PNRCAD), 2021-2030). However, the external evaluation of the PNRCAD 2013-2020 shows that the preventive interventions are the ones with the weakest performance.
This communication describes the translation and development of the reliability and validity testing process for a self-report instrument for adolescents aged 11 to 18. The instrument measures a range of risk and protective factors across multiple ecological domains, as well as problem behaviours. The Communities that Care Youth Survey was designed to: (i) assess a wide range of risk and protective factors identified through prospective longitudinal research in the areas of community, school, family, peer and individual outcomes, as well as health and behaviours, including substance use, violence and delinquency; (ii) be administered in a school setting during a class period; and (iii) be appropriate for adolescents aged 11-18 years to assess levels of exposure to risk and protective factors at different ages during adolescence.
The results could be used to support the development of strategies to prevent addictive behaviour and to promote and protect health. The results of this questionnaire are part of a research project funded by the European Commission. The aim is to identify needs in order to design training programmes for professionals involved in prevention in the broadest sense - teachers, nurses, social workers, and law enforcement.
