A Systematic Review of Risk Assessment Measures for Adolescent Family Violence

Area of Science:

• Criminology
• Forensic Psychology
• Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Background:

• Adolescent family violence (AFV) is a growing concern requiring effective risk assessment.
• Current understanding of validated risk assessment tools for AFV is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify validated risk assessment tools for AFV.
• To evaluate their predictive validity and adherence to RAGEE guidelines.
• To assess the risk of bias in validation studies.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review of 11,663 identified studies.
• Inclusion of seven studies validating six risk assessment instruments.
• Analysis of predictive and discriminant validity, and RAGEE guideline adherence.

Main Results:

• Few validated AFV risk assessment tools exist, with variable predictive validity (AUC .54–.67).
• Reasonably positive adherence to RAGEE guidelines was observed.
• Studies validating AFV tools exhibit a high risk of bias.

Conclusions:

• There is a critical need for AFV-specific, validated risk assessment tools.
• Current tools show limited predictive accuracy and potential bias.
• Further research is essential for clinicians and professionals in the family violence field.