Structural and Convergent Properties of Structured Assessment of Protective Factors (SAPROF) Ratings in a Treated Sexual Offending Sample

The Structured Assessment of Protective Factors (SAPROF) is a measure of protective factors intended to augment violence risk assessment. While prior research supports the predictive validity of SAPROF ratings, factorial and convergent validity have been underexamined, each of which is required to ensure that the instrument measures intended targeted constructs and converges with test scores from established measures. We evaluated the structural and convergent properties of SAPROF ratings through examining its factor structure and convergence with measures of relevant constructs, as a function of ethnocultural heritage, in a treated sample of 461 men with sexual offense conviction histories. The SAPROF was rated from institutional files pre-and posttreatment. Results of exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) of pre and post SAPROF item ratings identified a temporally stable three-factor model that was invariant across ethnocultural groups; however, it departed from the developers' original subscale structure-the factors were termed Internal-Prosocial, Motivational-Lifestyle, and External-to reflect continuity with, yet departure from, the current subscale structure. SAPROF ratings were correlated in theoretically and clinically meaningful ways with scores on relevant risk-need-responsivity (RNR) measures. The results support the structural and convergent validity of SAPROF ratings and identified a slightly modified subscale structure in the present sample.