Psychometric Evaluation of the School Nurses' Awareness and Perceptions Survey (SNAPS) for Youth At-Risk of Trafficking.

Background And Purpose: Estimates suggest approximately 244,000-360,000 school-aged children in the United States are at risk of being trafficked. The purpose of this study was to test the psychometric properties of the School Nurses' Awareness and Perceptions Survey (SNAPS).

Methods: A multi-phase approach for reliability and validity using correlation, exploratory, and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with samples of school nurses from Massachusetts (Phase I) and nationally (Phase II).

Results: SNAPS is a 32-item 5-point Likert scale with a potential score range of 32-160. Cronbach's alpha was .94 with sub-scales ranging from 0.84-0.94. CFA revealed a three-factor scale with a cumulative variance of 70.79% (Chisquare 3.13, df 461, < .001; RMSEA .10; GFI .80; CFI .78; TLI .76).

Conclusions: Strong psychometric properties were found for the new measure allowing assessment of school nurses' knowledge of youth trafficking.