Communities That Care Youth Survey – School Protective Factors & Individual Beliefs (CTC-YS)
Measures school-based protective factors (opportunities and rewards for prosocial involvement) and individual risk/protective beliefs in youth.
Scale Development & Technical Details
Scale Overview
The Communities That Care Youth Survey – School Protective Factors & Individual Beliefs (CTC-YS) was developed by Michael W. Arthur, Ph.D., J. David Hawkins, Ph.D., Richard F. Catalano, Ph.D. (2002). It is designed to measure School protective factors, belief in moral order, and depressive symptoms. The scale is intended for use with Adolescents (grades 6-12).
Scale Structure
This instrument consists of 17 items organized into 6 factors/subscales: School Opportunities for Prosocial Involvement, School Rewards for Prosocial Involvement, School Safety, Academic Achievement, Belief in the Moral Order, Depressive Symptoms.
| Factor / Subscale | Items | N |
|---|---|---|
| School Opportunities for Prosocial Involvement | 1,2,4,5,10 | 5 |
| School Rewards for Prosocial Involvement | 3,7,8 | 3 |
| School Safety | 6 | 1 |
| Academic Achievement | 9 | 1 |
| Belief in the Moral Order | 11,12,13,14 | 4 |
| Depressive Symptoms | 15,16,17 | 3 |
Response Format
Respondents rate each item using a custom response format.
Response anchors: 1 = NO! (Definitely not true), 2 = no (Mostly not true), 3 = yes (Mostly true), 4 = YES! (Definitely true).
The scale includes 6 reverse-scored items to reduce acquiescence bias.
Scoring
Items are scored by subscale, with each subscale sum representing a distinct dimension.
Total scores range from 17 to 68. Interpretation guidelines:
- Low Protection / High Risk: 17 – 34
- Moderate Protection: 35 – 51
- High Protection / Low Risk: 52 – 68
Psychometric Properties
Internal Consistency: The scale has demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency with reported Cronbach’s alpha values of Cronbach's alpha ranges from 0.70 to 0.90 for various subscales.
Administration
The scale is self-administered and typically takes approximately 10 minutes to complete. It can be administered individually or in group settings. No special training is required for administration.