THE PROCESS OF INSTRUMENT DEVELOPMENT FOR ETHNICALLY DIVERSE EARLY ADOLESCENTS

Through a combination of pilot study, consultation, and field-testing, an instrument was developed to evaluate the major content areas in th e curriculum of a community-brued family life education program: paren t/child communication, peer influence, family values, self-efficacy, s exuality knowledge, and high-risk behaviors. The wording,format, and q uestion content were structured to be appropriate developmentally for male and female early adolescents 10 through 14 years of age in divers e sociocultural communities in Los Angeles County. Age-related develop mental issues facing early adolescents, combined with the ethnic diver sity in the county, created serious challenges to the development of a valid, reliable, and relevant instrument for evaluating the effective ness of an adolescent family life education program An instrument with some stable and internally consistent components was developed throug h the key processes of pilot testing and field-testing with focus grou ps from the target population of ethnically diverse early adolescents.