title: Psychometric properties of the Barriers to Treatment Participation Scale-Expectancies.
abstract: Expectations concerning barriers to children's psychosocial care seem to be major drivers when seeking help, but validated questionnaires measuring expectations are not available. Therefore, this study examined the psychometric properties of the parent and adolescent versions of the Barriers to Treatment Participation Scale-Expectancies (BTPS-exp), in terms of consistency, structure, parent-child agreement, and validity. The authors obtained data via questionnaires on 1,382 Dutch children aged 4-18 years (response rate 56.6%) enrolled in psychosocial care, and on 666 children (response rate 70.3%) from the community. Internal consistencies of the BTPS-exp total and subscales of both versions were good (lowest Cronbach's alpha = .85). Fit of the data with the assumed scale structure was acceptable. Correlation coefficients between the parent and adolescent scores were low (Pearson's r total scale = 0.25). Parents expecting multiple barriers was significantly more likely in non-Dutch ethnicity (odds ratio [OR] = 1.4; 95% confidence interval [CI] [1.1, 1.9]), in lower parental educational levels (primary education: OR = 3.0; 95% CI [1.5, 6.1]; lower-level secondary education: OR = 2.0; 95% CI [1.3, 3.1], both vs. university), in single parent families (1.3; 1.1-1.6), in case of child psychosocial problems (OR = 1.3; 95% CI [1.0, 1.5]) and in adolescents with psychosocial problems (OR = 2.1; 95% CI [1.4, 3.1]). Expecting multiple barriers did not affect the association between psychosocial problems and care enrollment. The authors conclude that the BTPS-exp has good psychometric properties regarding reliability and structure and is reasonably valid. Parents and adolescents have their own separate views, implying that it is valuable to assess both. Use of the scale might be helpful in providing direction to improve access to psychosocial care for children and adolescents. (PsycINFO Database Record
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, University Medical Center Groningen.
authors.forename: Marieke
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nanninga
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, University Medical Center Groningen.
authors.forename: Danielle E M C
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Jansen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Yale University.
authors.forename: Alan E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Kazdin
authors.affiliation: Department of Special Needs Education and Youth Care, University of Groningen.
authors.forename: Erik J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Knorth
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, University Medical Center Groningen.
authors.forename: Sijmen A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Reijneveld
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002662:Child Health Services; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008605:Mental Health Services; D009426:Netherlands; D010290:Parents; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires