The Youth Diversity Acceptance Scale: Development and Validity

ABSTRACT

To facilitate rigorous research on community programs to promote positive intergroup relations among youth, 2 studies were conducted to establish the psychometric properties of the Youth Diversity Acceptance Scale (YoDA). In Study 1, a unifactorial structure was identified for the YoDA using data provided by 126 high school youth involved in a community program to improve intergroup relations. Moreover, hypothesized correlations between YoDA scores and intergroup closeness, awareness of discrimination, distress over discrimination, and knowledge of bias were also found. In Study 2, a single-factor confirmatory factor analysis was run on data provided by 112 high school youth who participated in the same program. Although the analysis provided limited support for the single-factor solution, a subsequent exploratory factor analysis indicated that the single-factor solution was appropriate for the data. Overall, these studies provide initial evidence for the internal structure and convergent validity of the YoDA, supporting its use in research to examine the effects of community programs on the promotion of intergroup acceptance.

KEYWORDS:

• Discrimination
• measurement development
• program evaluation
• prosocial involvement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Notes on Contributors

Kara L. Beck, MA, has completed the requirements for her PhD in Clinical Psychology at Central Michigan University and currently works as a post-doctoral resident for La Frontera Center in Tucson, Arizona where she provides clinical services, develops and evaluates programming for children and adolescents, and provides training to clinical staff and trainees. Her interests focus on the development and evaluation of effective programming for youth in the context of underserved communities.

Ignacio D. Acevedo-Polakovich, PhD, is currently an Associate Professor of Psychology at Michigan State University and was formerly a Co-Director of the Center for Children, Families and Communities at Central Michigan University. He obtained his PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Kentucky. His work includes program evaluation of health and human services for youth and families and research focused on development, dissemination, and improvement of sustainable youth programming.

Eileen Lyons, PhD, works as a school psychologist for St. Peter Claver Catholic School in Tampa, Florida. She received her PhD in School Psychology from the University of South Florida after completing her dissertation on the Anytown^TM program.

Jessica Estevez, BA, worked as the Director of Programs for Community Tampa Bay from 2005 until 2014. She has since completed a fellowship in racial healing and equity through the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. She is currently Vice President of Estrategia Group, a human and resource capital development company focusing on the creation and incubation of ideas, strategic planning and evaluation.

Jessica R. Sevecke, PhD, completed her degree in School Psychology at Central Michigan University. She completed a fellowship in pediatric psychology at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Pennsylvania and continues to work as a psychologist.

Danielle L. Rossman, MA, completed her Master's Degree in Higher Education Administration from Central Michigan University. She is now pursuing a doctoral degree in Higher Education at Michigan State University while working as the Assistant Director for Student Organizations and Assessment for Central Michigan University.

Miya L. Barnett, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at University of California, Santa Barbara. She obtained her PhD in Clinical Psychology from Central Michigan University. She specializes in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy and her research focuses on dissemination and implementation.

Heidi R. Fisher, PhD, completed her doctoral degree in School Psychology at Central Michigan University.

Notes

1. Anytown™ is a service mark of Community Tampa Bay, Inc.

2. To comprehensively examine grade cohort effects on the performance of the YoDA, data from a wait list control evaluation of Anytown (i.e., Acevedo-Polakovich, Beck, & Estevez, 2015) were reanalyzed. Participants were 130 high school students (53% women; 41.5% African American, 23.8% European American, 13.1% Latino or Latina, 7.7% Asian American, 9.2% multiracial) recruited and selected into Anytown in the same manner as described for Studies 1 and 2. Analysis of variance results indicated no significant effect of grade on baseline YoDA scores; F(4, 91) = 2.34, p =.06, η2 =.09. Hierarchical regression results indicated no significant interaction between grade and intervention (i.e., treatment vs. control) in the prediction of YoDA change, (ΔR² =.010, ΔF(1, 84) = 1.60, =.210).