Two level, Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the SAVRY Individual/Clinical Risk Measure Across Mississippi Juvenile Courts

• In Event: The Role of Risk and Protective Factors in Juvenile Justice

Abstract

The Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY) is widely used to assess risk and protective factors among justice-involved youth. Research has supported the predictive validity of the SAVRY in regard to recidivism. At the individual level, the dynamic Individual/Clinical Risk Factor (ADHD, Anger Management Problems, Poor Compliance (with justice or treatment interventions), Low Empathy/Remorse, Risk Taking/Impulsive, Negative Attitudes, Low School Interest/Commitment, and Substance Use Difficulties) has been found to be consistent in form across gender and race among Mississippi justice involved youth. Dynamic individual level factors are especially important because they can be modified/remediated. To our knowledge, the factor structure of the SAVRY Individual/Clinical Risk Factor has not been established at the agency level. The present two level, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) study explored the consistency of the Individual/Clinical Risk measure across 72 MS judicial jurisdictions over a six year period (2016-2021) involving 2124 delinquent youth. Probit regression analysis examined the relationship of the CFA factor results to within level and between level covariates. Findings support the existence of a single factor of Individual/Clinical Risk across the vast majority (88%) of court jurisdictions. The results recommend the continued use of the SAVRY as an evidence-based measure of risk.

Authors

• Richard Dembo, University of South Florida

• Sheena Gardner, Mississippi State University

• Angela Robertson, Mississippi State University

• Jennifer Wareham, Wayne State University

• James Schmeidler, Mt. Sinai Medical School