Initial development and validation of the checklist of risk behaviours for youth (CORBY)

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop and begin to validate a brief self-report measure, the checklist of risk behaviours for youth (CORBY). This 15-item measure was designed to assess, over a 30-day period, multiple youth risk behaviours associated with mental health and well-being concerns. Early research provides initial support for the reliability and validity of the CORBY, but further research is warranted. The present study is the first to describe a brief survey addressing multiple youth risk behaviours, examining both the severity of health risk and number of behaviours in which youth are engaged. Such a measure may have important implications for both research and clinical applications.

Keywords:

• risk behaviours
• youth
• validity
• reliability

Acknowledgements

The author would like to acknowledge Dr. Ian Manion, Dr. Robert Flynn, Youth Net/Réseau Ado, and the youth participants. She would also like to thank the Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health, the Ontario Mental Health Foundation, and the CHEO Research Institute for funding the youth engagement and suicidal ideation study from which this research was derived, as well as the Canadian Institutes of Health Research for a Canada Graduate Scholarship Doctoral Award.