Measuring youth health engagement: development of the youth engagement with health services survey.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to create and validate a survey instrument designed to measure Youth Engagement with Health Services (YEHS!).

METHODS

A 61-item YEHS! survey was created through a multistaged process, which included literature review, subject matter expert opinion, review of existing validated measures, and cognitive interviewing with 41 adolescents in Colorado and New Mexico. The YEHS! was then pilot tested with a diverse group of high school students (n = 354) accessing health services at one of eight school-based health centers in Colorado and New Mexico. We conducted psychometric analyses and examined correlations between the youth health engagement scales and measures of quality of care.

RESULTS

We created scales to measure two domains of youth health engagement: health access literacy and health self-efficacy. The youth health engagement scales demonstrated strong reliability (Cronbach's α .76 and .82) and construct validity (mean factor loading .71 and .76). Youth health engagement scores predicted higher experiences of care scores (p < .001) and receipt of more anticipatory guidance (p < .01).

CONCLUSIONS

This study supports the YEHS! as a valid and reliable measure of youth health engagement among adolescents using school-based health centers. We demonstrate an association between youth health engagement and two quality of care measures. Additional testing is needed to ensure the reliability and validity of the instrument in diverse adolescent populations.