title: Evaluating fidelity to the wraparound service model for youth: application of item response theory to the Wraparound Fidelity Index.
abstract: The wraparound process is a mechanism for multisystem planning and care coordination for youth with serious emotional and behavioral problems. Fidelity monitoring is critical to effective implementation of evidence-based practices in children's mental health, as it helps ensure that complex interventions like wraparound are implemented as intended. The 40-item Wraparound Fidelity Index, Version 4 (WFI-4; Bruns, Burchard, Suter, Leverentz-Brady, & Force, 2004) is the most frequently used measure of fidelity to the wraparound process, but analysis of its psychometric properties is insufficient. An item response theory approach, Rasch partial credit models for ordered polytomous data, was used on ratings from 1,234 facilitators, 1,006 caregivers, and 221 team members, focused on 1,478 youths (55% male). Results indicated the WFI-4 measured a unidimensional construct, with little evidence of item bias and good item and model fit. However, the item information curve was skewed, with most people endorsing high-fidelity responses, and several items had duplicative location estimates. A reduced 20-item measure is proposed. Internal reliability estimates for scores from this reduced measure were approximately equivalent to the longer measure. However, both versions would benefit from additional items located in the highest fidelity area of either version of the scale where scores by greater than half of our sample fall, but only 3 items are located.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98102, USA. pullmann@uw.edu
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Pullmann
authors.forename: Eric J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Bruns
authors.forename: April K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Sather
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000592:standards*; D015233:Models, Statistical; D011582:Psychological Theory; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D055815:Young Adult
references.citation: Behav Healthc Tomorrow. 1998 Jun;7(3):46-8
references.pmid: 10180304
references.citation: Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev. 2009 Dec;12(4):336-51
references.pmid: 19834802
references.citation: Med Care. 2004 Jan;42(1 Suppl):I7-16
references.pmid: 14707751
references.citation: Psychol Bull. 1987 Mar;101(2):213-32
references.pmid: 3562706
references.citation: Behav Ther. 2005;36(1):3-13
references.pmid: 16718302
references.citation: Am Psychol. 2010 Feb-Mar;65(2):85-97
references.pmid: 20141264
references.citation: Am Psychol. 2006 Oct;61(7):671-89
references.pmid: 17032068
references.citation: Am J Orthopsychiatry. 2001 Apr;71(2):171-81
references.pmid: 11347359
references.citation: Am J Psychiatry. 2002 Sep;159(9):1548-55
references.pmid: 12202276
references.citation: J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry. 2009 Sep;40(3):468-78
references.pmid: 19589499
references.citation: J Behav Health Serv Res. 2003 Jul-Sep;30(3):352-62
references.pmid: 12875102
references.citation: Am Psychol. 2005 Sep;60(6):601-14
references.pmid: 16173893
references.citation: Br J Clin Psychol. 2007 Mar;46(Pt 1):1-18
references.pmid: 17472198
references.citation: Clin Psychol Rev. 1998 Jan;18(1):23-45
references.pmid: 9455622
references.citation: Psychiatr Serv. 2006 Nov;57(11):1579-85
references.pmid: 17085605
references.citation: Am J Community Psychol. 2006 Dec;38(3-4):201-12
references.pmid: 16972193
references.citation: Psychiatr Serv. 2001 Sep;52(9):1179-89
references.pmid: 11533391
references.citation: Multivariate Behav Res. 1991 Apr 1;26(2):323-43
references.pmid: 26828257
references.citation: Prev Sci. 2003 Mar;4(1):55-63
references.pmid: 12611419
references.citation: J Behav Health Serv Res. 2008 Jul;35(3):240-52
references.pmid: 18512158
references.citation: Psychiatr Serv. 2006 Nov;57(11):1586-93
references.pmid: 17085606
references.citation: J Consult Clin Psychol. 1997 Oct;65(5):821-33
references.pmid: 9337501
references.citation: Am J Community Psychol. 2010 Dec;46(3-4):314-31
references.pmid: 20859674