Protective Factor Assessments: What Are We Measuring?—An Investigation of the Internal Validity of the Structured Assessment of Protective Factors for Violence Risk

Abbiati, Milena; Golay, Philippe; Gasser, Jacques; Moulin, Valérie

doi:10.1177/0093854819901157

Cited by 13 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…The dimensionality or factor structure of SPJ tools is therefore important regardless of whether such instruments have primarily a psychometric or clinimetric rationale. This is confirmed by, for example, a recent factor analysis of the Structured Assessment of Protective Factors for Violence (SAPROF) which indicated a 4 factor structure in contrast to the 3 subscales rationally derived by the instrument authors (Abbiati et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 55%

Unidimensionality of the Strengths and Vulnerabilities Scales in the Short-Term Assessment of Risk and Treatability (START)

Whittington

Pollak

Keski-Valkama

et al. 2022

International Journal of Forensic Mental Health

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The Short-Term Assessment of Risk and Treatability (START) is a 20-item structured professional judgment instrument for assessing dynamic risk in mental health services. Much of the START research literature examines the relationship between Strengths and Vulnerabilities sub-scale total scores and various adverse outcomes including violence. This assumes that the two sub-scales have the psychometric property of unidimensionality i.e. all the items cluster together as a measure of a single construct. Such assumed unidimensionality is a necessary condition for any analyses based on scale "total score" and the widespread use of scores summated in this way in research studies may obscure more specific clusters of items within each sub-scale. This multinational study examined START assessments (n ¼ 685) conducted in four forensic services in Scandinavia and the UK using principal component analysis. It was found that all but three Strengths items (Substance Use, Social Support and Material Resources) and all but four Vulnerabilities items (Substance Use, Social Support, Material Resources and Self care) loaded >0.5 on the expected component. This indicates a unidimensional structure underlying the START and provides empirical support from a large multinational sample for the widespread use of summated Strengths and Vulnerabilities scores in forensic psychiatric risk research.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 55%

Unidimensionality of the Strengths and Vulnerabilities Scales in the Short-Term Assessment of Risk and Treatability (START)

Whittington

Pollak

Keski-Valkama

et al. 2022

International Journal of Forensic Mental Health

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“…In the resources domain, unidimensionality is also confirmed; however, the reliability is slightly lower than in risks. Abbiati et al [ 49 ] indicate that there is little consensus as to how protective factors are operationalized and this may produce less internal consistency, but the FER-R advances the assessment of these factors through its two facets —protective resources and the youth’s interests—with differentiated items, which can act in association with an overall response of adaptation resources.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Examining the Factor Structure of a Risk Assessment Inventory in Young Offenders: FER-R, Risk and Resource Assessment Form

Alarcón

Pérez-Luco

Chesta

et al. 2022

IJERPH

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The FER-R, Risk and Resource Assessment Form, is a multidimensional inventory of structured professional judgment that assesses criminogenic risks and resources for the design and management of individualized intervention plans with criminally sanctioned adolescents. The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the FER-R, reviewing its factorial structure to contribute evidence of convergent and discriminant construct validity in a sample of adolescents sentenced for crimes in Chile. For each domain (risks and resources) with its respective facets, a unidimensional bifactor structure (CFA-BF) was obtained, with adequate indices of fit that confirmed its construct validity, while the convergent validity was demonstrated with the YLS/CMI and the divergent validity with two MACI scales. The FER-R adds factorial validity to the evidence of the previously reported predictive validity, making it a robust inventory for the evaluation of young offenders, and a relevant tool to manage differentiated interventions in Chile, with a high potential for use in Latin America. The importance of finding a suitable balance in assessing risks and protective factors is discussed, in order to manage interventions adjusted to the needs of the adolescents to promote their criminal desistance.

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“…Since the 1990's, over 150 specialized risk assessment tools have been developed for the prediction, prevention, and management of violent behavior of individuals within institutional and community settings (Heilbrun et al, 2010;Singh et al, 2011;Yang et al, 2010). Despite the proliferation of violence risk assessment instruments, the prediction and prevention of future violence remains a complex task (Abbiati et al, 2020). Given that risk estimates derived from risk assessment tools may result in decisions on the deprivation of individual liberty, or permission for leave or release into the community (Monahan & Skeem, 2016;Singh et al, 2011), importance must be placed on the use of evidence-based, structured, and transparent risk assessment tools (Fazel et al, 2021).…”

Section: The Structured Assessment Of Protective Factors For Violence Risk (Saprof): a Meta-analysis Of Its Reliability And Predictive Vamentioning

confidence: 99%

The Structured Assessment of Protective Factors for Violence Risk (SAPROF): A Meta-Analysis of its Predictive and Incremental Validity

Burghart¹,

Ruiter²,

Hynes³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Although the inclusion of protective factors in risk assessment is believed to improve prediction, most risk assessment tools emphasize risk factors. One tool that attempts to balance risk factors with protective factors is the Structured Assessment of Protective Factors for Violence Risk (SAPROF). The SAPROF focuses exclusively on protective factors and is used in conjunction with a structured risk assessment tool. It has received increasing attention from both researchers and forensic mental health practitioners in recent years. To assess its psychometric performance, we conducted a meta-analysis of validation studies using random effects models. Our final sample included 22 studies with 3,216 subjects from 12 countries. Overall, the SAPROF showed good interrater reliability and moderate to good predictive performance for desistance from violence in terms of institutional misconduct and community recidivism. The instrument also exhibited incremental validity when used in conjunction with the Historical Clinical Risk Management-20 (HCR-20). Despite these promising results, this meta-analysis also uncovered several shortcomings in current research on the SAPROF. Studies did not report data on calibration, thus failing to capture the full picture of the SAPROF’s predictive performance. Moreover, risk of bias across studies was high and findings are mostly restricted to male samples. Directions for future research and recommendations for the use of the SAPROF are offered.

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Protective Factor Assessments: What Are We Measuring?—An Investigation of the Internal Validity of the Structured Assessment of Protective Factors for Violence Risk

Cited by 13 publications

References 51 publications

Unidimensionality of the Strengths and Vulnerabilities Scales in the Short-Term Assessment of Risk and Treatability (START)

Unidimensionality of the Strengths and Vulnerabilities Scales in the Short-Term Assessment of Risk and Treatability (START)

Examining the Factor Structure of a Risk Assessment Inventory in Young Offenders: FER-R, Risk and Resource Assessment Form

The Structured Assessment of Protective Factors for Violence Risk (SAPROF): A Meta-Analysis of its Predictive and Incremental Validity

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