Examining the Factor Structure of a Risk Assessment Inventory in Young Offenders: FER-R, Risk and Resource Assessment Form

Paula Alarcón, Ricardo Pérez-Luco, Sergio Chesta, Lorena Wenger, Andrés Concha-Salgado and Eduardo García-Cueto
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Paula Alarcón: Departamento de Psicología, Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco 4811322, Chile
Ricardo Pérez-Luco: Departamento de Psicología, Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco 4811322, Chile
Sergio Chesta: Departamento de Psicología, Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco 4811322, Chile
Lorena Wenger: Departamento de Psicología, Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco 4811322, Chile
Andrés Concha-Salgado: Departamento de Psicología, Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco 4811322, Chile
Eduardo García-Cueto: Departamento de Psicología, Universidad de Oviedo, 33003 Oviedo, Spain

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 2, 1-14

Abstract: The FER-R, Risk and Resource Assessment Form, is a multidimensional inventory of structured professional judgment that assesses criminogenic risks and resources for the design and management of individualized intervention plans with criminally sanctioned adolescents. The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the FER-R, reviewing its factorial structure to contribute evidence of convergent and discriminant construct validity in a sample of adolescents sentenced for crimes in Chile. For each domain (risks and resources) with its respective facets, a unidimensional bifactor structure (CFA-BF) was obtained, with adequate indices of fit that confirmed its construct validity, while the convergent validity was demonstrated with the YLS/CMI and the divergent validity with two MACI scales. The FER-R adds factorial validity to the evidence of the previously reported predictive validity, making it a robust inventory for the evaluation of young offenders, and a relevant tool to manage differentiated interventions in Chile, with a high potential for use in Latin America. The importance of finding a suitable balance in assessing risks and protective factors is discussed, in order to manage interventions adjusted to the needs of the adolescents to promote their criminal desistance.

Keywords: young offenders; risk assessment; protective factors; factorial validity; juvenile delinquency (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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