SBIR-STTR Award

The long-term objective of the proposed research is to develop an innovative stress assessment tool for Hispanic adolescents. A SBIR Phase I study will determine the feasibility of a Phase II study to further validate and norm two commercial adolescent versions of the Hispanic Stress Inventory (H.S.I.): The immigrant and non-immigrant versions (HSI-A-I/NI). The specific aims of this study of Hispanic early and late adolescents are to: 1) identify the salient conceptual psychosocial stress domains; 2) specify discrete domain-specific stressor events and their appraisal for clinical and non-clinical samples that include immigrant, language and ethnic origin subgroups; 3) generate a pool of closed-ended stressor and appraisal items formatted in a Likert style to be included in the HSI-A draft tool; 4) evaluate the content validity of the HSI-A for each adolescent conceptual stress domain. A cross-sectional, multi-stage research design with multisite, multimethod and multimeasure features will be applied. Stage 1 will telephone interview an expert panel to identify the conceptual and relevant stress domains. Stage 2 will use focus group interview methods. A stratified sample of middle and high school students and clinical clients will be selected (N=250) to participate in focus groups (N=30) from the research sites of Trenton, NJ and San Fernando, CA. Stage 3 will conduct qualitative analysis of the telephone data to generate a logically interconnected pool of items. In Stage 4 the content validity will be evaluated using Cohen's Kappa statistic of inter-rater agreement and an item analysis. The feasibility of the Phase II study will be determined by multiple criteria that include: obtaining targeted number of participants; adequate representation from the sub-groups of ethnic populations and consensus among expert panel on HSI item content as evidenced by a Cohen's Kappa of 0.70 or higher. Ultimately, the HSI-A will be advertised and supplied to the mental health care field where it will have relevance as an early warning mental health screening tool to improve diagnostic formulation.

Thesaurus Terms:
Hispanic American, adolescence (12-20), data collection methodology /evaluation, health survey, psychological stressor, stress focus group, immigrant, interview, telecommunication clinical research, human subject

Hispanic adolescents are at elevated risk for mental health and related behavioral problems. Culturally specific stress is associated with the risk for these problems. The objective of the proposed research is to develop a stress assessment inventory for Hispanic adolescents. This Phase II study builds upon the results of the Phase I feasibility study. The study will further validate and norm immigrant and non-immigrant versions of the Hispanic Stress Inventory-Adolescent (HSI- A.). A cross-sectional research design with a nested test-retest component and multisite, multimeasure features will be applied. A stratified sample of middle and high school students (N=1600) and clinical sample of adolescents with a diagnosed behavioral health problem will be selected (N=400) in 4 research sites representing the diversity of the United States Hispanic population: LosAngeles, Miami, Dallas and Boston. The 160 items developed in the Phase I study will be self administered to the adolescents along with the criterion measures and analysis will determine the standardized version of the HSI-A. The six objectives of this study of Hispanic early (13-15 years) and late adolescents (15-17 years) are: 1) To determine, through a series of exploratory factor analyses, the global construct validity and factor structures of the HSI-A immigrant and non- immigrant versions; 2) Estimate the construct validity of the final HSI-A by analyzing the similarities and differences in scale and subscale scores between the student sample and the clinically defined contrast group; 3) Assess the HSI-A for criterion-related validity using concurrent measures; 4) Assess the reliability of the HSI-A through the use of internal consistency, split-half and test-retest procedures; 5) Using survey data from a national sample of Hispanic adolescents, generate national normative data and actuarial profiles of the HSI-A; 6)Assess the reliability of the HSI-Athat includes web-based administration and scoring features as an integral part of the commercialization plan. The HSI-A will be marketed through a commercialization plan and will provide a screening tool for early detection of elevated stress and the prevention of the onset of mental health disorders by mental health professionals. The President's New Freedom Commission has recommended that the screening and early detection of mental disorders and the reduction of health disparities be priorities in the transformation of the nation's mental health system. The proposed research will address these two national public mental health needs through the development and commercialization of the Hispanic Stress Inventory - Adolescent. This new clinical screening tool will significantly increase the capacity of mental health professionals to prevent and reduce the risk in the vulnerable and rapidly growing population of Hispanic adolescents of serious mental health and behavioral problems through effective assessment of abnormal levels of stress.

Thesaurus Terms:
Hispanic American, adolescence (12-20), diagnosis design /evaluation, immigrant, stress Internet, behavior disorder, developmental psychology, diagnosis quality /standard, early diagnosis, geographic difference, mental disorder prevention behavior test, behavioral /social science research tag, clinical research, human subject, population survey, psychometrics