Reliability of the Problem Oriented Screening Instrument for Teenagers (POSIT) in adolescent medical practice.
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.
Knight
J R
JR
Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Goodman
E
E
Pulerwitz
T
T
DuRant
R H
RH
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