SACA for Siblings

Services Assessment for Children and Adolescents (SACA-C). This computerized interview is a revised version of the Service Assessment for Children and Adolescents (SACA; Stiffman et al., 2000). This measure was developed by the team of researchers in the UNOCCAP Project for NIMH. It assesses the frequency, duration, type, and cost of mental health and social services associated with the child's behavior, substance abuse, and delinquency. It has been adapted to also include school-based and court services.

Abstract: SACA Siblings is a brief version of the SACA (Stiffman et al., 2000) administered to parents in order to collect information on the use of services by the siblings of Fast Track participants. The measure includes 5 ‘gate-level’ questions about services for emotional, behavioral, drug or alcohol problems in the previous 2 years from 5 different types of facilities: inpatient, outpatient, school special education, foster care, and family preservations services. If a parent reports that a sibling used such services, the name and location for up to 3 facilities are collected. The measure also collects information about sibling police contact. Seven dichotomous scales were derived for this measure. Associated with each scale name are the items captured by the general scale score. If a parent reports use for any item in the list, the scale is coded one. If any item is missing and none of the non-missing items indicate service use, the scale is coded missing. The measure provides information on mental health service use by the study child’s next youngest sibling. The information on service use is limited to any use in the past year. However, the measure provides much more detailed data regarding arrests among the siblings and the outcome of those arrests. Analysts should note the degree of response for services before generating descriptive statistics or using outcomes in statistical models. In general, most distributions will be ‘zero-modal’ so examination of distribution characteristics is highly advised.

Who Completed this Measure?: Parent

Cohort 1 - Administrative History

  • Year 11 | grade 10 | age 16
  • Year 12 | grade 11 | age 17
  • Year 13 | grade 12 | age 18

Cohort 2 - Administrative History

  • Year 11 | grade 10 | age 16
  • Year 12 | grade 11 | age 17
  • Year 13 | grade 12 | age 18

Cohort 3 - Administrative History

  • Year 11 | grade 10 | age 16
  • Year 12 | grade 11 | age 17
  • Year 13 | grade 12 | age 18

Technical Reports:

Raw Dataset Name: PxAJ

Scored Dataset Name: MHSySPc

Keywords:
Arrest, Foster Care, Hospitalization, Illegal Activities, In-School Services, Incarceration, Inpatient, Jail, Mental Health Services, Outpatient, Special Education

Is this Measure Available for Public Use?: No

Obtain Measure:

Arlene R. Stiffman, Ph.D.
Barbara A. Bailey Professor of Social Work
Washington University
Phone: (314) 935-6685
Email: arstiff@wustl.edu