Ligia M Chavez1, Patrick E Shrout2, Ye Wang3, Francisco Collazos4, Rodrigo Carmona5, Margarita Alegría6. 1. Behavioral Sciences Research Institute, University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus, Río Piedras, PR 00935, USA. Electronic address: ligia.chavez@upr.edu. 2. Department of Psychology,New York University 6 Washington Place, Room 455 New York, NY 10003, USA. Electronic address: pat.shrout@nyu.edu. 3. Disparities Research Unit, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School,50 Staniford St. Suite 830 Boston, MA 02114, USA. Electronic address: ywang75@mgh.harvard.edu. 4. Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Paseo de la Vall d'Hebron, 119-129, 08035 Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: pacocollazos@hotmail.com. 5. Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Avda. Reyes Católicos, 2, 28040 Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: docrcarmona@yahoo.es. 6. Disparities Research Unit, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School,50 Staniford St. Suite 830 Boston, MA 02114, USA. Electronic address: malegria@mgh.harvard.edu.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Early detection and intervention in primary care is integral to behavioral health. Valid, practical screening assessments are scarce, particularly for non-English speaking populations. We address this need by evaluating the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the AC-OK Screen for Co-occurring Disorders for first and second generation immigrant Latinos in Massachusetts, USA, and Madrid and Barcelona, Spain. METHODS: 567 Latino participants were recruited in waiting areas of clinics or by referral from Primary Care, Mental Health, Substance Use, and HIV Treatment Clinics, as well as Community Agencies. We use confirmatory factor analyses to evaluate the factor structure, correlation analysis to examine concurrent and discriminant validity, and receiver operating curves (ROC) to determine the ability of the AC-OK to approximate a composite of established instruments designed to measure depression, generalized anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, alcohol, and drugs (including benzodiazepines) as external criteria. RESULTS: The original two factor structure was replicated in samples of Latino respondents in the US and Spain. Correlations with other measures followed the expected pattern. In both the US and Spain, ROC analyses suggested that the AC-OK scale was an adequate approximation to other specific measures of mental health (ROC=0.90) and substance abuse problems (ROC=0.83). CONCLUSIONS: The Spanish version of the AC-OK Screen has good to excellent psychometric properties in both its subscales. These findings are robust across sites, gender, and type of clinic. We recommend its use for clinical research and for routine screening at treatment centers.
BACKGROUND: Early detection and intervention in primary care is integral to behavioral health. Valid, practical screening assessments are scarce, particularly for non-English speaking populations. We address this need by evaluating the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the AC-OK Screen for Co-occurring Disorders for first and second generation immigrant Latinos in Massachusetts, USA, and Madrid and Barcelona, Spain. METHODS: 567 Latino participants were recruited in waiting areas of clinics or by referral from Primary Care, Mental Health, Substance Use, and HIV Treatment Clinics, as well as Community Agencies. We use confirmatory factor analyses to evaluate the factor structure, correlation analysis to examine concurrent and discriminant validity, and receiver operating curves (ROC) to determine the ability of the AC-OK to approximate a composite of established instruments designed to measure depression, generalized anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, alcohol, and drugs (including benzodiazepines) as external criteria. RESULTS: The original two factor structure was replicated in samples of Latino respondents in the US and Spain. Correlations with other measures followed the expected pattern. In both the US and Spain, ROC analyses suggested that the AC-OK scale was an adequate approximation to other specific measures of mental health (ROC=0.90) and substance abuse problems (ROC=0.83). CONCLUSIONS: The Spanish version of the AC-OK Screen has good to excellent psychometric properties in both its subscales. These findings are robust across sites, gender, and type of clinic. We recommend its use for clinical research and for routine screening at treatment centers.
Authors: Bridget F Grant; Frederick S Stinson; Deborah A Dawson; S Patricia Chou; Mary C Dufour; Wilson Compton; Roger P Pickering; Kenneth Kaplan Journal: Arch Gen Psychiatry Date: 2004-08
Authors: Julie H Levison; Margarita Alegría; Ye Wang; Sheri L Markle; Larmiar Fuentes; Dianna L Mejia; Andrew Tarbox; Lucía Albarracín García; Lucía Cellerino; Nabila El-Bassel Journal: AIDS Behav Date: 2019-04
Authors: Margarita Alegría; Irene Falgas-Bague; Francisco Collazos; Rodrigo Carmona Camacho; Sheri Lapatin Markle; Ye Wang; Enrique Baca-García; Benjamin Lê Cook; Ligia M Chavez; Lisa Fortuna; Lizbeth Herrera; Adil Qureshi; Zorangeli Ramos; Claudia González; Paloma Aroca; Lucía Albarracín García; Lucía Cellerino; Ana Villar; Naomi Ali; Kim T Mueser; Patrick E Shrout Journal: JAMA Netw Open Date: 2019-01-04