Predictive Validity of the SAVRY, YLS/CMI, and PCL:YV Is Poor for Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration Among Adolescent Offenders

Objectives: Despite advances in developing structured risk assessment instruments, there is currently no instrument to assess and manage the risk of intimate partner violence perpetration among adolescents. Given the empirical link between many forms of antisocial behavior, we tested whether structured tools commonly by professionals used to evaluate an adolescent’s risk to engage in general violence and offending could be used to identify adolescents at risk for perpetrating intimate partner violence. Hypotheses: Because researchers have not yet examined whether risk assessment tools for general violence and offending predict intimate partner violence perpetration, we did not have a priori hypotheses regarding the predictive validity of these tools for this purpose. Method: Research assistants rated 156 adjudicated youth on the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY), Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (YLS/CMI), and Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV) and recorded charges for intimate partner violence perpetration and any violent and any reoffending over a 2-year follow-up period. Results: Receiver operating characteristics analysis indicated that total scores and summary risk ratings on the SAVRY and YLS/CMI and total scores on the PCL:YV were significantly predictive of any violent and any reoffending with moderate to large effect sizes but were non-significantly associated with intimate partner violence perpetration. Further, penalized logistic regression analysis indicated that the SAVRY, YLS/CMI, and PCL:YV did not significantly add incremental validity to age, gender, race/ethnicity, and prior intimate partner violence perpetration and victimization for predicting future intimate partner violence perpetration. Conclusions: These findings suggest that the SAVRY, YLS/CMI, and PCL:YV could have limitations for assessing and managing intimate partner violence perpetration among adolescents.