An Assessment of the Internal Structure of the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) Using Two Samples of High-Risk Adolescents

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to test the internal structure of the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) assessment, a widely used assessment of behavioral health difficulties among youth. The dimensionality and internal consistency of the CANS was examined using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Cronbach’s coefficients. Data were drawn from two separate samples of adolescents (ages 11–17) who completed the CANS as part of a community-based intervention program. The use of two separate samples facilitated assessments of measurement invariance (Sample 1, n = 120; Sample 2, n = 170). Results did not provide strong support for the internal structure of the CANS. Item performance (i.e., standardized factor loadings), explained factor variance (R2), and internal reliability estimates (α) were inconsistent across CANS domains and samples. The implications of these findings for continued use of the CANS domains in jurisdictions across the country are discussed and key areas for future research are outlined.