Psychometric Characteristics of the Beck Self-Concept Inventory for Youth with Adolescents Who Have Experienced Sexual Abuse

The Beck Self-Concept Inventory for Youth (BYI-S; Beck et al. in Manual for the Beck Youth Inventories of Emotional and Social Impairment, 2001) was administered to 100 adolescents (12-17 years old) who experienced sexual abuse. An iterated principal-factor analysis found that the BYI-S represented two highly correlated (r = .53) factors corresponding to the Self-Esteem and Competency dimensions that Steer, Kumar, Beck, and Beck (J Psychopathol Behav Assess 27:123-131, 2005) found with child psychiatric outpatients. Item analyses were used to derive two six-item subscales measuring Self-Esteem and Competency that had coefficient alpha s > .80. The Self-Concept total and subscale scores were differentially correlated with various psychosocial characteristics of the youth. Low Self-Esteem scores were associated with total number of posttraumatic symptoms and self-reported anger, whereas low Competency scores were related to externalizing behavior problems. The BYI-S was discussed as being a useful instrument for assessing the self-concepts of youth who have experienced sexual abuse.