title: Reliability of the Problem Oriented Screening Instrument for Teenagers (POSIT) in adolescent medical practice.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the internal consistency and 1-week test-retest reliability of the Problem Oriented Screening Instrument for Teenagers (POSIT) among adolescent medical patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  A research assistant administered the POSIT to a consecutive sample of 15- to 18-year-old patients arriving for routine medical care at a hospital-based adolescent medical practice. Each subject returned for a retest 1 week later. Internal consistency for each scale on test and retest was calculated using Cronbach alpha, and 1-week test-retest reliability by the intraclass correlation coefficient (r) and the kappa coefficient (kappa).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The Substance Use/Abuse, Mental Health Status, Educational Status, and Aggressive Behavior/Delinquency scales had favorable alpha scores (>.70). Others, including Physical Health Status, had lower alpha scores. High intraclass correlation coefficients were found for all 10 POSIT scales (r =.72 to.88), although (r) was lower for males on two of the scales. Kappa coefficients for all scales indicated good reproducibility beyond chance (kappa =.42 to.73).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study provided supportive evidence for the reliability of the POSIT in primary care medical settings, although some POSIT scales could likely be improved. The 20- to 30-min administration time is most practical in settings that are dedicated to adolescent medicine, and computerized administration and scoring are needed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Knight
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Goodman
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pulerwitz
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: DuRant
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D016497:Adolescent Health Services; D000374:Aggression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D011320:Primary Health Care; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012309:Risk-Taking; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires