Universal Screening for Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Risk in Students: DESSA-mini Risk Stability Over Time and Its Implications for Screening Procedures

Abstract

The first purpose of the current study was to examine the defensibility of common recommendations for the frequency of screening administrations. The second purpose was to examine the internal consistency and criterion-related validity of the Devereux Student Strengths Assessment (DESSA)-mini (Naglieri, LeBuffe, & Shapiro, 2011a), a strength-based social–emotional and behavioral (SEB) risk screening tool. Specifically, the current study examined the defensibility of the oft-recommended triannual screening schedule, while also evaluating alternative screening schedules (i.e., once and twice per year). Participants included 525 students sampled across 2 rural midwestern elementary schools. Teachers completed the DESSA-mini across 3 time periods throughout the school year. Schools provided data for outcome variables, including student attendance, reading scores, and office discipline referrals (ODRs). Analyses revealed (a) adequate internal consistency and alternate forms reliability of DESSA-mini scores, and (b) small to moderate relations between DESSA-mini scores and the various outcomes. Findings also suggested strength-based SEB risk status was relatively stable over the 3 screening periods. Furthermore, generalized linear modeling and classification accuracy analyses indicated that after accounting for fall screening scores, winter and spring screening scores contributed little to the prediction of the outcome variables. Limitations and implications for practice are discussed.