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Reliability of the Problem Oriented Screening Instrument for Teenagers (POSIT) in adolescent medical practice
J R Knight1, E Goodman, T Pulerwitz
1Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Summary
The Problem Oriented Screening Instrument for Teenagers (POSIT) shows good reliability for adolescent medical patients in primary care. Further improvements are suggested for some scales and administration methods.
Area of Science:
- Adolescent Medicine
- Psychometric Evaluation
- Primary Care Research
Background:
- Adolescent health screening requires reliable and valid instruments.
- The Problem Oriented Screening Instrument for Teenagers (POSIT) is used for adolescent assessment.
- Evaluating the POSIT's psychometric properties in medical settings is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the internal consistency of the POSIT.
- To determine the 1-week test-retest reliability of the POSIT.
- To evaluate the POSIT's utility among adolescent medical patients.
Main Methods:
- Administered the POSIT to 15- to 18-year-old patients in a hospital-based adolescent practice.
- Collected retest data 1 week after the initial assessment.
- Calculated internal consistency using Cronbach alpha and reliability using intraclass correlation coefficients (r) and kappa coefficients (kappa).
Main Results:
- Favorable internal consistency (alpha >.70) was found for Substance Use/Abuse, Mental Health Status, Educational Status, and Aggressive Behavior/Delinquency scales.
- High test-retest reliability (r =.72 to.88) was observed across all 10 POSIT scales.
- Kappa coefficients indicated good reproducibility beyond chance (kappa =.42 to.73).
Conclusions:
- The POSIT demonstrates supportive evidence of reliability in primary care medical settings for adolescents.
- Some POSIT scales may require refinement for enhanced psychometric performance.
- Computerized administration and scoring are recommended to improve efficiency, alongside dedicated adolescent medicine settings.
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