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Caring Adult - Subject Release

This measure appears in the following time-points: Release.

Related Construct

Description of Measure

The Contact with Caring Adults inventory was derived from several sources for this study (Nakkula, et al., 1990; Phillips and Springer, 1992; Institute of Behavioral Science, 1990). In the release interview, it assesses the range of supportive adults within the institution. This support is assessed across eight domains: adults you admire and want to be like, adults you could talk to if you needed information or advice about something, adults you could talk to about trouble, adults you would tell about an award or if you did something well, adults with whom you can talk about important decisions, adults you can depend on for help, adults you feel comfortable talking about problems with, and special adults who care about your feelings. Youth are asked to identify the total number of adults who are supportive in each domain as well as to nominate the person that they are most likely to turn to within each domain. These endorsements are summarized across the eight different domains in three ways - the total domains with a person named, the diversity of the individuals named across the domains, and the depth of the pool of individuals named across the domains. The first of the dimensions calculated, Domains of Social Support, provides the number of different domains for which at least one caring adult is present. Diversity of Caring Adults, the second dimension of social support, identifies the unique individuals mentioned across all eight domains. Diversity of Caring Adults is further refined by also calculating the number of caring adults mentioned in the particular domain in which the youth identifies the highest number of caring adults (Maximum Diversity Within Domains). Finally, the Depth of Social Support assesses the number of caring adults who are mentioned in more than two domains.

A one-factor confirmatory factor analysis model using the baseline data was fit to the eight items making up the calculation of the domains of social support score (with the items declared categorical). The values from this analysis are available in the subject baseline and subject follow-up codebook sections.

Several scores are available. These are all individuals from within the institution:

Higher scores indicate a greater number of relationships with adults who spend time with the adolescent and provide support.

Two of the subscales in this measure ("domains of social support" and "diversity of social support") were used in the development of the eight dimensions of organizational functioning. A full description of the dimensions can be found in the "Dimensions of Organizational Functioning" codebook section.

References