Measurement Repository

The Positive Childhood Experiences (PCE) Scale is designed to measure the frequency of supportive, nurturing, and culturally affirming experiences during childhood (before age 18). This adapted version includes ten items that ask participants how often they experienced various positive interpersonal and environmental factors, such as feeling emotionally supported by family, friends, and non-parent adults; participating in Native cultural traditions; feeling connected to school, nature, ancestral heritage, and tribal lands. These experiences are known protective factors that buffer the effects of childhood adversity and contribute to long-term mental and relational health. The measure is used to assess cumulative protective experiences and inform strengths-based, culturally relevant approaches to care and intervention.

The Positive Peers measure is a brief, 4-item instrument adapted from the Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences (HOPE) framework. It assesses the presence of supportive, emotionally available, and trustworthy peer relationships in a participant’s life. Participants are asked whether they have friends with whom they regularly spend time, who listen to their feelings, offer support, and are trustworthy. The measure aims to capture protective social connections that contribute to emotional well-being and resilience. Higher scores reflect stronger positive peer relationships.

The Preparation for Bias measure assesses the frequency with which caregivers engage in conversations with their child about racial bias, discrimination, and cultural advocacy. Adapted from Hughes and Chen’s conceptualization of racial socialization, this 6-item scale asks caregivers how often they discuss topics such as racism, unfair treatment based on race, the need for greater effort to succeed, activism around Native issues, and the correction of historical misinformation about Native peoples. Items are rated on a 4-point Likert scale from “Never” to “Often.” This measure is designed to capture how caregivers prepare their children to understand, cope with, and respond to race-related challenges, with higher scores indicating more frequent engagement in such preparation

The Problems from Stressful Experiences – PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) is a 20-item self-report measure designed to assess symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in alignment with DSM-5 diagnostic criteria. Each item reflects a specific PTSD symptom and asks participants to rate the extent to which they have been bothered by that problem over the past month, using a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 0 (“Not at all”) to 4 (“Extremely”). Items cover the four PTSD symptom clusters: intrusion, avoidance, negative alterations in cognition and mood, and alterations in arousal and reactivity. The purpose of the PCL-5 is to screen individuals for PTSD, monitor symptom change over time, and support provisional PTSD diagnoses. Outcomes of interest include both total severity scores and subscale scores corresponding to the DSM-5 symptom clusters. A higher total score indicates greater symptom severity. The measure can be used to identify individuals who may need further diagnostic evaluation or treatment. Scores are interpreted based on clinical cutoffs, and changes in scores over time can indicate treatment progress or symptom fluctuation.

The PROMIS Anxiety Short Form is an 8-item anxiety screening tool asks respondents to rate how often they feel anxiety symptoms in the past 7 days. Items focus on feeling fearful, anxious, worried, nervous, uneasy, tense, and unable to focus on anything other than anxiety. The more often anxiety symptoms are experienced by the respondent and the more anxiety symptoms they experience in general, the higher the risk for an anxiety disorder.

The Reasons for Life (RFL) Scale is a culturally grounded measure of protective factors against suicide, developed within the Yup’ik Alaska Native Qungasvik (Tools for Life) prevention program as a cultural adaptation and extension of the Brief Reasons for Living – Adolescent (BRFL-A) scale. The RFL scale emphasizes cultural strengths and protective processes, rather than focusing on suicide risk. It captures beliefs in resilience, cultural and spiritual teachings, and recognition from others as protective against suicide. The final scale includes three subscales: Efficacy Over Life Problems – belief in one’s ability to manage and overcome challenges. Cultural and Spiritual Beliefs – grounding in teachings from Elders, spiritual traditions, and cultural continuity. Others’ Assessment of Me – sense that others view the individual as valuable and contributing positively.

The Reflective Processes Scale (RPS), or Umyuangcaryaraq (a Yup’ik Alaska Native word meaning “Reflecting”), is a culturally grounded measure developed to assess youth awareness of and reflection on the potential negative consequences of alcohol use. The RPS is considered a protective factor for alcohol misuse and suicide risk among Alaska Native youth. Items ask participants to consider how their actions may affect themselves, their families, and their communities, and the measure was designed in collaboration with community co-researchers to reflect Yup’ik values and ways of thinking.

The Retrospective Indigenous Childhood Enrichment (RICE) Scale is a self-report measure designed to assess participation in and exposure to a broad range of activities during childhood (up to age 15). These include traditional Aboriginal cultural activities (e.g., art, ceremonies, storytelling), community events, physical activities, reading, and games. The scale captures the richness and diversity of early life experiences, including social, cognitive, physical, and cultural engagement, with the aim of linking these experiences to later-life cognitive and health outcomes. Importantly, the scale allows participants to define “traditional” in personally meaningful ways, ensuring sensitivity to cultural loss due to colonization, discrimination, and racism. The original RICE scale included 21 items, but factor analyses reduced it to a validated 18-item version with three subscales: Traditional (5 items): e.g., traditional stories, ceremonies, songs, rituals, dance. Intellectual (5 items): e.g., reading, library use, newspapers, puzzles. Community (8 items): e.g., church, community events, sport, art, singing.

The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale is a widely used 10-item self-report instrument designed to measure global self-worth by assessing both positive and negative feelings about the self. Originally developed for adolescents, it has since become the standard measure of self-esteem in psychological research with adult populations. The items explore general attitudes about self-satisfaction, personal worth, and perceived competence. Half of the items are negatively worded to reduce response bias. Participants respond using a 4-point Likert scale ranging from “Strongly Agree” to “Strongly Disagree.”

The Scale of Ethnic Experience is a 32-item self-report measure designed to assess multiple dimensions of ethnic experience in ethnic minority groups. It includes four subscales: Ethnic Identity (12 items): Measures sense of belonging, pride, and involvement in one’s ethnic group (e.g., “Being a member of my ethnic group is an important part of who I am”). Social Affiliation (5 items): Assesses preferences for socializing with others from the same or different ethnic groups (e.g., “I feel most comfortable talking about personal things with people from my own ethnic group”). Mainstream Comfort (6 items): Gauges feelings of comfort and assimilation with the dominant U.S. culture (e.g., “I think of myself as a typical American”). Perceived Discrimination (9 items): Measures perceptions of discrimination and inequities (e.g., “My ethnic group does not have the same opportunities as other ethnic groups”). Each item is scored using a 5-point Likert-type scale from 1 (Strongly Agree) to 5 (Strongly Disagree). Subscale scores are calculated by averaging items within each subscale, with higher scores indicating stronger endorsement of that dimension.

The School Attitudes measure assesses youth perspectives on their school experience, including emotional engagement, academic motivation, sense of belonging, and participation in school activities. The 11-item scale includes statements about liking school, academic self-perception, relationships with teachers, and involvement in sports or extracurriculars. Youth indicate whether they agree or disagree with each statement, using a 2-point scale (Agree, Disagree), with a “Don’t Know/Refused” option. Items capture both positive and negative aspects of school attitudes, helping to identify students’ overall orientation toward their educational environment.

The School Truancy measure captures self-reported school disengagement behaviors over the past year, including skipping school, suspension or expulsion due to misbehavior, and dropping out. These items reflect different levels of school-related risk behavior and can help identify youth who may be disconnected from formal education settings. Each item is asked in a yes/no format with a “Don’t Know/Refused” option and focuses on specific behavioral indicators of school avoidance or disciplinary action.