Factorial Structure Analysis of the Communities that Care Youth Survey (CTC-YS) in Colombian Adolescents

The "Communities That Care Youth Survey" (CTC-YS) emerges from the Social Development Model and provides a comprehensive assessment of risks and protective factors in community, family, school, as well as individual and peer group domains. This has contributed to the prevention of drug use and other associated factors. The main objective of this study was to analyze the factorial structure of the CTC-YS in Colombian adolescents. A total of 2,963 volunteers between 12 and 19 years participated (mean = 14.25, SD = 1.53; 53% female). Construct validity was assessed through a confirmatory factor analysis of domains. Goodness-of-fit indices were found to be adequate for risk and protective factors in the community and school domains as well as for protective factors in the family and individual and peer group domains. However, the family, individual, and peer group domains did not reach the optimal indices for risk factors, prompting recommendations for potential improvements. Overall, the results support the reliability and construct validity of the survey domains, advocating its utilization in researching and assessing risk and protective factors among Colombian adolescents. The need for additional psychometric analyses was discussed to enhance the validity and applicability of the CTC-YS in the Colombian context.