Pathways RTC Measures, Scales, and Instruments

The following tools have been developed and validated, either entirely or in part, by Pathways researchers. Click on a title for more information.

Family Empowerment Scale in Spanish and English

The Family Empowerment Scale (FES) is a brief questionnaire for assessing empowerment in families whose children have emotional disabilities. The questionnaire is based on a two-dimensional conceptual framework of empowerment derived from the literature. One dimension reflects empowerment with respect to the family, service system, and larger community and political environment; the other dimension reflects the expression of empowerment as attitudes, knowledge, and behaviors.

Citation: Koren P., DeChillo, N., & Friesen, B. (1993). Family Empowerment Scale (FES). Portland, OR: Research and Training Center on Family Support and Children's Mental Health, Portland State University.

More information on the FES can be found in this article:

Koren, P. E., DeChillo, N., & Friesen, B. J. (1992). Measuring empowerment in families whose children have emotional disabilities: A brief questionnaire. Rehabilitation Psychology, 37(4), 305–321. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0079106

Download Family Empowerment Scale in Spanish and English

Youth Efficacy / Empowerment Scale-Mental Health (YES-MH) (Available in English or Spanish)

The Youth Efficacy /Empowerment Scale Mental Health (YES-MH) is an adaptation from the Family Empowerment Scale, and was designed to assess youth perceptions of confidence and efficacy with respect to managing their own mental health condition, managing their own services and supports, and using their experience and knowledge to help peers and improve service systems.

More information on the YES-MH can be found in this article:

Walker, J. S., Thorne, E. K., Powers, L. E., & Gaonkar, R. (2010). Development of a Scale to Measure the Empowerment of Youth Consumers of Mental Health Services. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 18(1), 51–59

The Youth Participation In Planning Scale assesses youth perceptions of their own meaningful participation in the team-based planning processes such as Wraparound or TIP.

Download YES - MH & YPP Packet English

Download YES - MH & YPP Packet Spanish

Transition Service Provider Competency Scale (TSPCS)

The Transition Service Provider Competency Scale (TSPCS) is a self-assessment scale for service providers to assess their own level of confidence in a range of competencies for providing effective supports to youth and young adults in the transition years.

Citation: Jivanjee, P., Brennan, E., Roser, E., & Sellmaier, C. (2011). Transition Service Provider Competency Scale. Portland, OR: Research and Training Center for Pathways to Positive Futures, Portland State University.

More information on the TSPCS can be found in this article:

Sellmaier, C., Jivanjee, P., Brennan, E.M, & Grover, L. (2019). Development and Psychometric Testing of the Transition Service Provider Competency Scale. Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research, 46(2), 353-362