Development of the Healthy Pathways Parent-Report Scales

To describe the development of the Healthy Pathways Parent-Report Scales, measures of health, illness, well-being, and achievement
among youth in middle childhood and adolescence.

The Healthy Pathways Scales were derived from the Child Health and Illness Profile (CHIP) instruments. The CHIP domains of
Comfort, Risk Avoidance, Satisfaction, and Resilience were modified to reflect advances in child health conceptualization.
Classical test and modern psychometric analyses were conducted using data collected from 1,527 parents of children aged 9–14 years.
Intra-class correlation and differential item functioning analyses were used to evaluate the extent of child–parent agreement
on the Healthy Pathways Scales.

After minor revisions, 11 of the 12 scales were found to measure unidimensional parent-assessed outcomes comprehensively (full
range of the latent trait) and efficiently (a minimal number of items). Scales were unbiased by age, gender, and geographic
location. The construct validity of the scales was supported by their capacity to differentiate children with and without
chronic illnesses and to detect expected age and gender differences. Child–parent agreement was poor to moderate at both the
scale and item levels.

The Healthy Pathways Parent-Report Scales may be used to reliably, accurately, and efficiently assess unidimensional aspects
of health, illness, well-being, and achievement in clinical and population-based research studies involving youth in middle
childhood and adolescence.