Adaptation and validation of the life events and difficulties schedule for use with high school dropouts

Abstract

The Life Events and Difficulties Schedule (LEDS) is considered the standard for measuring psychosocial stressor exposure, but it has not been used with academically at-risk adolescents, including high school dropouts. The goal of this study was to (1) adapt the LEDS for use with this population, and (2) examine the reliability (interrater) and validity (concurrent and predictive) of this adaptation among a sample of vulnerable adolescents (N = 545). Good reliability coefficients (.79–.90) were obtained, and stressor exposure was associated with concurrent criteria indexing mental health outcomes (depression) and major risk factors for dropout (administratively recorded and self-reported). Also, LEDS scores predicted dropout beyond these risk factors. The adapted LEDS appears useful for describing academically struggling adolescents’ stressor exposure.