Validity Studies the "Things I Worry about" Scale: Further Developments in Surveying the Worries of Postprimary School Pupils

Abstract

The present article reports further findings relating to the "Things I Worry About" Scale as a method of recording the self-expressed personal. and social concerns of adolescent school pupils. A revised 138-item scale that encompasses 13 categories of worry was administered to a sample of 3,983 young people between 13 and 19 years of age, all of whom were attending postprimary schools throughout Northern Ireland. Compared with previous findings, the results suggest a slightly modified 13-category structure and provide preliminary evidence of content validity. The findings also indicate that the scale reflects a number of predictable differences in the domain of adolescent concerns.