Is a 7-Item Combination from the YLS/CMI an Effective Screening Strategy for Risk to Reoffend? Findings from a Cross-National Study
Author | Miguel Basto-Pereira,Alberto Pimentel,Michele Peterson-Badali,Tracey A. Skilling,Lidón Villanueva,Jorge Quintas,Robert D. Hoge,Keren Cuervo |
Published date | 01 May 2021 |
Date | 01 May 2021 |
DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0093854821995866 |
Subject Matter | Articles |
CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BEHAVIOR, 2021, Vol. 48, No. 5, May 2021, 655 –670.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854821995866
Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions
© 2021 International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology
655
IS A 7-ITEM COMBINATION FROM THE YLS/
CMI AN EFFECTIVE SCREENING STRATEGY
FOR RISK TO REOFFEND?
Findings From a Cross-National Study
MIGUEL BASTO-PEREIRA
William James Center for Research, ISPA–Instituto Universitário
LIDÓN VILLANUEVA
Department of Developmental, Educational and Social Psychology and Methodology, Universitat Jaume I
MICHELE PETERSON-BADALI
Department of Applied Psychology & Human Development, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education,
University of Toronto
ALBERTO PIMENTEL
Unidade de Investigação em Criminologia e Ciências do Comportamento (UICCC), Instituto Universitário da
Maia–ISMAI
JORGE QUINTAS
Faculty of Law, School of Criminology; CJS-Crime, Justice and Security, Interdisciplinary Research Centre, University of
Porto
KEREN CUERVO
Deparment of Developmental, Educational and Social Psychology and Methodology, Universitat Jaume I
ROBERT D. HOGE
Department of Psychology, Carleton University
TRACEY A. SKILLING
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto
Several brief screening measures for youth risk to reoffend have been developed; however, these measures have been tested
primarily in high-income English-speaking countries and their predictive validity is limited. A recent study proposed a screen-
ing strategy using a combination of seven items from the Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (YLS/CMI).
Predictive validity for this strategy was better than that reported in studies of previously developed screening tools. In the
current study, the predictive validity of this strategy was examined across samples of justice-involved youth from two coun-
tries: Canada (N = 196) and Portugal (N = 2,348). The full version of the YLS/CMI was completed and recidivism data were
collected over a 2-year period. Results support the predictive validity of this strategy, with area under the curve (AUC) values
(.69–.74) very similar to those found in the full version in each country, both in the full samples, and for both genders.
Keywords: YLS/CMI; screening; assessment; cross-cultural; recidivism; justice-involved youth
AUTHORS’ NOTE: We are truly grateful for the reviewers’ valuable comments and suggestions.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Lidón Villanueva, Department of Developmental,
Educational and Social Psychology and Methodology, Universitat Jaume I, Avda. Sos Baynat, s/n, Castellón
12071, Spain; e-mail: bvillanu@uji.es
995866CJBXXX10.1177/0093854821995866Criminal Justice and BehaviorBasto-Pereira et al. / Cross-National Examination of YLS/CMI Items
research-article2021
656 CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BEHAVIOR
INTRODUCTION
The Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (YLS/CMI; Hoge & Andrews,
2002) is one of the most widely implemented and investigated fourth-generation risk
assessment tools (Viljoen et al., 2020). This assessment tool is based on the principles of
the General Personality and Cognitive Social Psychological Theory (Andrews et al.,
2011). According to this theoretical approach, criminal actions result from a complex and
dynamic interaction between individual predispositions and the way youth environmental
influences (e.g., family, peers, and community) respond to (reward or punish) criminal
actions. Thus, it is argued that the assessment of multiple environmental and attitudinal/
temperamental factors at a given time is the best way to predict and to intervene to pre-
vent recidivism through the identification of criminogenic need factors or targets of treat-
ment (Bonta & Andrews, 2017). These factors may be regarded as risk factors, or
criminogenic needs (strong and direct predictors of later offending), or as strengths or
protective factors (variables that reduce the likelihood of offending among individuals
exposed to risk factors; Farrington et al., 2016).
The YLS/CMI comprises eight empirically derived domains assessing a variety of
risk and strength/protective factors. The “Big Four” most important domains are
Antisocial Attitudes, Antisocial Friendships, an Antisocial Personality Pattern, and
History of Previous Offenses. These factors are followed by four additional crimino-
genic need domains, including Family Circumstances, Education and Employment,
Substance Abuse, and Leisure and Recreation (Campbell et al., 2018). Research investi-
gating the accuracy of the YLS/CMI in predicting risk for reoffense has consistently
demonstrated a significant and positive relationship between scores on the YLS/CMI
and likelihood of reoffending (e.g., Scott et al., 2019; Villanueva et al., 2019a). It is
considered one of the best options for assessing the risk of recidivism among justice-
involved youth (Olver et al., 2014).
Despite its usefulness in predicting reoffense among youth, limitations or challenges
have been highlighted, including its length and the slightly lower predictive accuracy
of the tool for risk to reoffend for female youth and cultural/ethnic minorities (Pusch &
Holtfreter, 2018; Schmidt et al., 2011; Shepherd et al., 2015). In addition, at some
stages of the judicial process, such as times of urgent decision-making (e.g., bail) or
during extraordinary periods (weekends and vacations), when there is a need to evalu-
ate a large number of young people or when resources are limited, professionals may
need to quickly assess risk of recidivism to make judicious, informed decisions in a
timely manner.
THE PREDICTIVE ABILITY OF YLS/CMI SCREENING VERSIONS
The primacy of the YLS/CMI in the field as a valid risk assessment tool makes it a
sensible choice for the development of shortened versions. The original authors of the
YLS/CMI, Hoge and Andrews (2009), created a screening version known as the YLS-SV.
This version contains eight items, one item representing each of the eight YLS domains.
Moderate area under the curve (AUC) values for general recidivism for the total sample
and male justice-involved youth, and slightly lower values for female youth (.64, .65, and
.59, respectively), were reported for this screening version (Chu et al., 2014). Another
shortened version of the YLS/CMI was developed by Campbell et al. (2014), which
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