Psychometric evaluation of the Self-Appraisal Questionnaire in a Spanish sample of offenders.

BACKGROUND The Self-Appraisal Questionnaire (SAQ) is a self-report instrument designed to predict recidivism among adult criminal offenders. The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of this self-report in a Spanish sample of offenders. METHOD The questionnaire was administered to 276 offenders recruited from various prisons in Madrid (Spain). RESULTS Confirmatory factor analyses showed that the underlying structure of SAQ was best explained by a one-factor solution. SAQ total scores exhibited high levels of internal consistency (.92). Correlations of the instrument with violence risk measures were statistically significant and had a moderate magnitude, indicating a reasonable degree of concurrent validity. CONCLUSIONS After examination of its psychometric properties, it was concluded that the SAQ total score is a reliable and valid measure to estimate violence risk in Spanish offenders.