Validation of the Perceived Safety Scale: A Measure Assessing Youth Perception of Neighborhood Safety

Date of Submission

2020

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Department

Psychology

Department Chair

Stephanie Felgoise, PhD, ABPP

First Advisor

Susan M. Panichelli Mindel, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Robert DiTomasso, Ph.D., ABPP

Third Advisor

Michael Gray, Ph.D.

Abstract

Individuals residing in low socioeconomic status neighborhoods are exposed to violence at high rates, causing concerns for people living in these areas. Children who live in these neighborhoods commonly witness acts of violence and crime, thus jeopardizing their safety. Although safety concern is a significant issue, currently no validated measure assesses youth’s perceived safety. Additionally, the majority of literature focuses on parental perceptions of safety, rather than on children’s perceptions. The primary objective of this study was to create and validate a scale that measures children’s perceived safety in their neighborhood environments, and to determine whether higher concerns for safety are related to anxiety. One hundred and thirteen youth from a Mid-Atlantic urban city participated in the study and completed the measures. Measures consisted of the Perceived Safety Scale (PSS), designed for this study to assess youth perception of safety; the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED), which examines different aspects of childhood anxiety; and a demographic questionnaire. A factor analysis was performed, and results indicated that the majority of the items on the created measure demonstrated significant inter-item reliability, with the exception of 10 items. Those items were removed, and the revised measure was correlated with a standardized measure of anxiety. Clinical implications of the findings and future directions are discussed.

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