Recruitment/eligibility, number of participants, and their gender, age, race/ethnicity (if information is available), etc. Include additional relevant characteristics of the participants.
Measures (or Materials)
Detailed descriptions of how each variable of interest was operationalized. Name and description of the measures being used, answering format, how scores were computed etc. Give some
examples of the questions asked in the survey.
Procedure
Process behind gathering data (must be replicable!). This must be as specific as a cookbook recipe.
What was a participant asked to do once they agreed to participate?
PY4200 RDA II SP2021
Instruction & Sample Method Section
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Method
Participants
The present study includes 303 adolescents (45.2% female; Mage= 15.69, SD = 1.40)
residing in New York City who were identified as at-risk, due to behavioral, mental health, or
substance use problems, and were therefore being considered for inclusion in a treatment
intervention focused on testing the effectiveness of family therapy compared to alternative
treatment [individual treatment-as-usual] approaches delivered in community-based clinical
settings for adolescents with substance use and mental health problems. Students were of
multiple racial/ethnic backgrounds, including 55.4% Hispanic/Latino, 22.1% Black/African
American, 3.0% White/Non-Hispanic, 0.3% American Indian/Alaskan Native, 0.3% Asian, 0.3%
Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander, 2.3% Other/Non-Hispanic, and 12.9% reported more
than one race/ethnicity. Ninety-two percent of participants were born in the United States and
50.5% were living in public housing or shelters at the time of data collection.
Measures
The intervention screening and follow-up assessment procedures involved the use of
multiple measures designed to assess the emotional, behavioral, and academic functioning and
experiences of these at-risk youth. The present study uses data from a subset of these measures to
examine the relationship between exposure to trauma, PSTD symptomatology, aggression, and
involvement in the legal system. This analysis focuses solely on data collected at the initial
encounter with the adolescent – the screening interview that is conducted with the primary
purpose of determining whether or not criteria for study inclusion are met.
Legal Involvement
PY4200 RDA II SP2021
Instruction & Sample Method Section
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Adolescent involvement with the legal system was assessed using the Comprehensive
Addiction Severity Index for Adolescents (CASI-A) Legal History module (Meyers, McLellan,
Jaeger, & Pettinati, 1995). The CASI-A is a 45-90 minute semi-structured interview with
modules designed to be independent from one another. The Legal History module assesses
whether the youth has committed a crime (i.e., “Have you ever committed a crime?”) and then
whether he or she has come in contact with the legal system in various capacities (e.g., “Have
you ever been convicted of a crime?”; “Have you ever been on probation or parole?”). If the
adolescent indicates that they have been involved with the legal system, age of first involvement
and involvement in the past month are assessed. Reliability statistics for this module were not
calculated, as each of the items is mutually exclusive.
Exposure to Violence and Posttraumatic Stress Symptomatology
Exposure to violence and posttrauma symptoms were assessed using the PSTD subscale
of the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I.), a short, structured diagnostic
tool (Sheehan, et al., 1998). The M.I.N.I. has been found to be valid and reliable with both
youth and adult populations The first set of items asks about exposure to potentially traumatic
events (e.g., “Have you ever had someone close to you die?”), and the remainder of the items
asks about PTSD symptomatology (e.g., “In the past month have you tried not to think about this
awful thing?”). Respondents are asked to answer yes or no to each item. Reliability statistics for
this module were not calculated, as each of the items is mutually exclusive. One item (“Have
you ever been arrested?”) from the items about exposure to traumatic events was not included in
the present analyses because it overlapped with items from the legal involvement measure.
Aggression
PY4200 RDA II SP2021
Instruction & Sample Method Section
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Adolescent aggression was assessed using the Aggression Against the Person subscale of
the Self-Report Delinquency—a self-report measure that was created for use with adolescents
(SRD; Elliot, Huizinga, & Ageton, 1985). The Aggression against the Person subscale consists
of eight items (e.g., “Been involved in gang fights”) to which participants are asked to answer
using a four-point Likert-type scale (1 = xxxx, 4 = xxxx). Internal consistency for this subscale
was acceptable (α = .73) and comparable to other studies (e.g., Huizinga & Elliot, 1985).
Although the SRD consists of other subscales assessing other aspects of delinquency, the
Aggression against the Person subscale was the only subscale included in the present study as
previous research has indicated that there is a relationship between posttraumatic stress and
aggression (Reebye, Moretti, Wiebe, & Lessard, 2000, Thomas, 1995) and between aggression
and legal involvement (Bassarath, 2001).
Procedure
Participants were primarily referred to the study by school guidance counselors due to
either mental health, behavioral, or substance use problems, although some referrals came from
other sources, such as Administration of Children’s Services case managers, probation officers,
and legal advocates. Referrals were assigned to a case manager, who contacted the adolescent’s
caregiver via telephone to discuss the research study and establish an appointment for the screen
interview to take place if the caregiver was willing to participate. In this first in-person meeting,
usually occurring in the participant’s home, caregiver consent and adolescent assent were sought
before the screen interview was administered. The interview was conducted via a computerbased program. Each question was read aloud and each answer was inputted by the trained
researcher conducting the interview. This format only differed for the SRD, in which the
adolescent was given the computer so that he or she could read the questions and input the
PY4200 RDA II SP2021
Instruction & Sample Method Section
5 answers themselves. The procedure was adapted for this measure, in an attempt to minimize socially desirable reporting and therefore obtain more accurate results. Once the screen interview was complete, the case manager presented the caregiver and adolescent with treatment options and treatment referral information if applicable.

Sample Solution

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