Risk Assessment With Young Offenders: A Meta-Analysis of Three Assessment Measures

The current investigation is a meta-analysis of the predictive accuracy of three well-known forensic instruments used to appraise risk with young offenders: youth adaptations of the Level of Service Inventory and Psychopathy Checklist and the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk for Youth. Through several avenues, 49 potentially suitable published and unpublished studies (across 44 samples representing 8,746 youth) were identified and evaluated for inclusion. Predictive accuracy for general, nonviolent, violent, and sexual recidivism was examined for the three sets of measures. Mean weighted correlations for each of the three measures were significant in the prediction of general, nonviolent, and violent recidivism, with no single instrument demonstrating superior prediction. Separate analyses of specific young offender groups further supported the predictive accuracy of youth adaptations of the Level of Service Inventory among male, female, Aboriginal, and non-Aboriginal youth. Implications regarding the utility of young offender risk measures for enhancing clinical service provision with youth clientele are discussed.