A unique assessment tool which helps identify and build on strengths in young people at risk has been developed by Dr Julie Bower from The University of Queensland's School of Education.
As part of her PhD research Dr Bower developed and completed the initial validation of the Contextualised Assessment Tool for Risk and Protection Management (CAT-RPM).
The CAT-RPM (www.catrpm.com.au) is an interactive, self-paced assessment tool that calculates risk and protection present for young people (aged 12-18 years) across five areas: within themselves; and in relation to family, school, peers and community.
Its point of difference is that it separates out risk and protection across these areas.
Its purpose is to highlight, in a single page report, the areas where most protective factors exist in order to help young people find and build on their strengths.
Rather than looking at how to ‘fix’ young people, the focus is on what is working for them and how this can be strengthened.
In developing the CAT-RPM, Dr Bower was mindful of a range of issues, including literacy levels and motivational issues in the design.
She consulted widely with Indigenous groups to ensure relevance to Indigenous as well as non-Indigenous young people.
The result is an assessment tool that is positive and fun to complete, thereby collecting more accurate information.
“The applications are far-reaching, but predominantly the CAT-RPM is a starting point to identifying and building on strengths in young people," Dr Bower said.
"It is envisaged that the CAT-RPM would be used as a tool by professionals working with adolescents at risk.”
In 2012 Dr Bower commenced an ARC Postdoctoral Fellowship as part of an ARC Linkage grant, with Associate Professor Annemaree Carroll and colleagues from three Ipswich schools – Investing in our disadvantaged youth: New school-wide approaches to understanding school engagement and social connectedness.
Dr Bower’s postdoctoral research examines how young people develop social connectedness.
The CAT-RPM will be used to compare profiles of young people with strong social connectedness skills to those without.
Further development of this valuable tool is now in its next phase as part of Dr Bower’s fellowship.
“The first aim is to build on the development and validation of the CAT-RPM to expand the reporting system," Dr Bower said.
"I believe I can add value to the CAT-RPM by linking a strategy bank to the report.
"This will help professionals to identify strategies that may assist a young person to build on their strengths.”
Dr Bower will also examine how the CAT-RPM compares to other relevant measures to confirm its validity.
“My second aim is to continue my writing around risk and protective factors associated with the development of social connectedness and engagement," Dr Bower said.
"Specifically I will examine how schooling experience, involvement in risky activities, family belonging, peer connectedness and social responsibility are related.”
Her third aim is to build collaborative networks with colleagues in Singapore and Malaysia to explore the relevance of the CAT-RPM as an assessment tool in the Asia-Pacific region.
Dr Bower has over 26 years’ experience in the education sector, 16 of those in educational research working with Associate Professor Annemaree Carroll and Emeritus Professor Adrian Ashman.
Other significant research outputs from this research collaboration include the ongoing development of and training for the Mindfields programs, publications and conference presentations.
Media: Dr Julie Bower (School of Education), email j.bower@uq.edu.au, phone 3365 6520 or Helen Burdon (Marketing and Communications, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences), email h.burdon@uq.edu.au, phone 3346 9279.
