Assessing At-Risk Youth Using the Reynolds Adolescent Adjustment Screening Inventory With a Latino Population

Juvenile delinquency, adolescent antisocial behavior, and conduct problems represent a significant emphasis in extant social science research (Mallett & Stoddard-Dare, 2010; Maschi, Smith Hatcher, Schwalbe, & Scotto Rosato, 2008). This focus may be due, in part, to the relationship between antisocial behaviors and conduct problems, including diagnosable mental health disorders (Shufelt & Cocozza, 2006), anger control, emotional distress (Balkin, Miller, Ricard, Garcia, & Lancaster, 2011), and externalization of blame (Englebrecht, Peterson, Scherer, & Naccarato, 2008), to juvenile delinquency. In 2002, the estimated juvenile youth population of the largest demographic groups in the United States was 61% European American, 16% African American, and 18% Latino (Snyder & Sickmund, 2006), and the number of court-referred youth varies depending on location, with the largest percentage of Latino juveniles in New Mexico (51%), California (45%), and Texas (42%; Snyder & Sickmund, 2006). Juvenile delinquency also seems to be related to poverty given that “one out of every six juveniles lived in poverty in 2002” (Snyder & Sickmund, 2006, p. 7), with African American and Latino juveniles approximately 3 times as likely to reside in poverty compared with their European American juvenile counterparts (Snyder & Sickmund, 2006). Given that the percentage of Latino youth who enter the juvenile justice system is expected to increase (Snyder & Sickmund, 2006), using psychometrically valid assessments to evaluate and conduct research with this population is especially important.