DEVELOPMENT OF A CULTURALLY, THEORETICALLY AND DEVELOPMENTALLY BASED SURVEY INSTRUMENT FOR ASSESSING RISK BEHAVIORS AMONG AFRICAN-AMERICAN EARLY ADOLESCENTS LIVING IN URBAN LOW-INCOME NEIGHBORHOODS
B. Stanton et al., DEVELOPMENT OF A CULTURALLY, THEORETICALLY AND DEVELOPMENTALLY BASED SURVEY INSTRUMENT FOR ASSESSING RISK BEHAVIORS AMONG AFRICAN-AMERICAN EARLY ADOLESCENTS LIVING IN URBAN LOW-INCOME NEIGHBORHOODS, AIDS education and prevention, 7(2), 1995, pp. 160-177
The creation of developmentally and culturally appropriate data-gather
ing instruments is necessary as health researchers and interventionist
s expand their investigations to community-based minority adolescent p
opulations. The creation of such instruments is a complex process, req
uiring the integration of multiple data-gathering and analytic approac
hes. Recent efforts have delineated several issues to be considered in
survey design for minority populations: community collaboration; prob
lem conceptualization; application of the presumed model of behavioral
change; and dialect and format of delivery. This paper describes the
process of creating a culturally and developmentally appropriate, theo
retically grounded instrument for use in monitoring the impact of an A
IDS educational intervention on the behavior and health outcomes of ur
ban African-American pre-adolescents and early adolescents. Three phas
es of research were involved: preliminary (and on-going) ethnographic
research including extensive participant observation, as well. as, foc
us group and individual interviews with 65 youths; construction and te
sting of the preliminary instrument involving two waves of pilot testi
ng (N-1 = 57; N-2 = 45); and, finalization of the instrument including
reliability testing and assessment of tool constructs and selection o
f the mode of delivery (involving 2 additional waves of pilot testing
(N-3 = 91; N-4 = 351). The essential role played by the community in a
ll phases of instrument development is underscored.