Files and links (1)
Accepted (AM)Open Access (License Unspecified), Open
Journal article
The Work and Social Adjustment Scale for Youth: A Measure for Assessing Youth Psychosocial Impairment Regardless of Mental Health Status
Journal of child and family studies, v 28(1)
01 Jan 2019
PMCID: PMC7731438
PMID: 33311964
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
A key component of delivering mental health services involves evaluating psychosocial impairments linked to mental health concerns. Youth may experience these impairments in various ways (e.g., dysfunctional family and/or peer relationships, poor school performance). Importantly, youth may display symptoms of mental illness without co-occurring psychosocial impairments, and the reverse may be true. However, all available instruments for assessing youth psychosocial impairments presume the presence of mental health concerns among those assessed. Consequently, key gaps exist in knowledge about the developmental psychopathology of psychosocial impairments; and thus how to understand impairments in the context of youth mental health. To address these issues we developed a modified version of a 5-item measure of adult psychosocial impairments (i.e., Work and Social Adjustment Scale for Youth [WSASY]) and tested its psychometric properties. A mixed clinical/community sample of adolescents and parents completed parallel versions of the WSASY, along with a multi-domain, multi-method battery of measures of adolescent internalizing and externalizing concerns, parent psychosocial functioning, adolescent-parent conflict, adolescent peer functioning, and observed social skills. On both versions of the WSASY, increased scores related to increased adolescent mental health concerns, adolescent-parent conflict, parent psychosocial dysfunction, and peer-related impairments. WSASY scores also distinguished adolescents who displayed co-occurring mental health concerns from those who did not, and related to observed social skills deficits within social interactions with unfamiliar peers. The WSASY opens doors to new areas of inquiry regarding the developmental psychopathology of impairment, including questions regarding the onset of impairments and their links to mental health.
Metrics
Details
- Title
- The Work and Social Adjustment Scale for Youth: A Measure for Assessing Youth Psychosocial Impairment Regardless of Mental Health Status
- Creators
- Andres De Los Reyes - University of Maryland, College ParkBridget A. Makol - University of Maryland, College ParkSarah J. Racz - University of Maryland, College ParkEric A. Youngstrom - University of North Carolina at Chapel HillMatthew D. Lerner - Stony Brook UniversityLauren M. Keeley - University of Maryland, College Park
- Publication Details
- Journal of child and family studies, v 28(1)
- Publisher
- Springer Nature
- Number of pages
- 16
- Grant note
- R01MH110585 / National Institute of Mental Health; United States Department of Health & Human Services; National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA; NIH National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) R324A180032 / Institute of Education Sciences; US Department of Education; Institute of Education Sciences (IES)
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- A.J. Drexel Autism Institute
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000455149900001
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85053531786
- Other Identifier
- 991021861824304721
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:
InCites Highlights
Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:
- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Family Studies
- Psychiatry
- Psychology, Developmental