Exploratory rasch analysis of a static-99R clinical cohort assessment

TL;DR

This study used modern test theory to evaluate the Static-99R, a tool for assessing sexual recidivism risk, and found it did not perform well.

Contribution

The first Rasch analysis of the Static-99R, revealing its psychometric limitations and suggesting improvements.

Findings

The original Static-99R did not meet Rasch model requirements.

Revisions with seven or nine items only marginally improved performance.

Dichotomizing two polytomous items slightly improved reliability.

Abstract

Modern test theory supplements the more prevalent classic methods for assessing test properties. However, such an assessment of the commonly used sexual recidivism risk assessment instrument, Static-99R, has yet to be attempted. This study evaluated the psychometric properties of said instrument using Rasch analysis. The clinical cohort assessed consisted of individuals with mental disorders convicted of a sexual offense (N = 146). Results showed that the original ten-item Static‑99R did not meet the Rasch model requirements, and revisions of the instrument with seven and nine items each only marginally improved performance. More reliable results could likely have been obtained with a larger, non-clinical sample and a more randomized distribution of missing data. Despite the consistently poor performance of item 3 (“Index non-sexual violence”) in all three analyses, reliability was slightly improved by dichotomizing the only two polytomous items in the Static-99R; items 1 (“Age at release from index offense”) and 5 (“Prior sexual offenses”). These results may be of interest considering the significant change of splitting the formerly dichotomous item 1 into four different response categories in the revision of Static-99 to Static-99R.

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