Abstract
BackgroundThere is a growing consensus about the importance of mental health screening of youths in welfare and juvenile justice institutions. The Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument-second version (MAYSI-2) was specifically designed, normed and validated to assist juvenile justice facilities in the United States of America (USA), in identifying youths with potential emotional or behavioral problems. However, it is not known if the USA norm-based cut-off scores can be used in Switzerland. Therefore, the primary purpose of the current study was to estimate the diagnostic performance and optimal cut-off scores of the MAYSI-2 in a sample of Swiss youths in welfare and juvenile justice institutions. As the sample was drawn from the French-, German- and Italian-speaking parts of Switzerland, the three languages were represented in the total sample of the current study and consequently we could estimate the diagnostic performance and the optimal cut-off scores of the MAYSI-2 for the language regions separately. The other main purpose of the current study was to identify potential gender differences in the diagnostic performance and optimal cut-off scores.MethodsParticipants were 297 boys and 149 girls (mean age = 16.2, SD = 2.5) recruited from 64 youth welfare and juvenile justice institutions (drawn from the French-, German- and Italian-speaking parts of Switzerland). The MAYSI-2 was used to screen for mental health or behavioral problems that could require further evaluation. Psychiatric classification was based on the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children, Present and Lifetime version (K-SADS-PL). The MAYSI-2 scores were submitted into Receiver-Operating Characteristic (ROC) analyses to estimate the diagnostic performance and optimal ‘caution’ cut-off scores of the MAYSI-2.ResultsThe ROC analyses revealed that nearly all homotypic mappings of MAYSI-2 scales onto (cluster of) psychiatric disorders revealed above chance level accuracy. The optimal ‘caution’ cut-off scores derived from the ROC curve for predicting (cluster of) psychiatric disorders were, for several MAYSI-2 scales, comparable to the USA norm-based ‘caution’ cut-off scores. For some MAYSI-2 scales, however, higher optimal ‘caution’ cut-off scores were found.ConclusionsWith adjusted optimal ‘caution’ cut-off scores, the MAYSI-2 screens potential emotional or behavioral problems well in a sample of Swiss youths in welfare and juvenile justice institutions. However, as for choosing the optimal ‘caution’ cut off score for the MAYSI-2, both language as well as gender seems to be of importance. The results of this study point to a compelling need to test the diagnostic performance and optimal ‘caution’ cut-off scores of the MAYSI-2 more elaborately in larger differentiated language samples in Europe.
Highlights
There is a growing consensus about the importance of mental health screening of youths in welfare and juvenile justice institutions
Massachusetts youth screening instrument - second version (MAYSI-2) Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument-second version, K-SADS-PL Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children Present and Lifetime version, Sensitivity rate (Sens) sensitivity rate, Specificity rate (Spec) specificity rate, Positive predictive value (PPV) positive predictive value, Negative predictive value (NPV) negative predictive value, AUC area under the curve, Confidence interval (CI) confidence interval *p < .05; ** p < .01; *** p < .001; ns not significant aThe optimal ‘caution’ cut-off scores are based on the difference between the sensitivity and specificity value to find the cut-off score with the lowest difference between both values bThe current cut-off scores are based on the results of the United States of America (USA) National Norms Study for the MAYSI-2 [17]
As for choosing the optimal ‘caution’ cut-off score for the MAYSI-2 both language as well as gender seem to be of importance; the results of this study indicate the need to test the diagnostic performance and optimal ‘caution’ cut-off scores of the MAYSI-2 more elaborately in larger differentiated language samples in Europe
Summary
There is a growing consensus about the importance of mental health screening of youths in welfare and juvenile justice institutions. The Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument-second version (MAYSI-2) was designed, normed and validated to assist juvenile justice facilities in the United States of America (USA), in identifying youths with potential emotional or behavioral problems. It is not known if the USA normbased cut-off scores can be used in Switzerland. The primary purpose of the current study was to estimate the diagnostic performance and optimal cut-off scores of the MAYSI-2 in a sample of Swiss youths in welfare and juvenile justice institutions. Similar types and rates of mental health problems are seen across welfare as well as juvenile justice populations
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
