Sibling-Support for Adolescent Girls (SSAGE)

This measure initially includes 25 items and assesses the presence and severity of several psychiatric symptom domains in children and adolescents over the last two weeks. 19 of the items are rated on a 5-point scale (0=none/never; 1=slight/rare; 2=mild/several days; 3=moderate/more than half the days; and 4=severe/almost daily). Questions on suicide ideation, suicide attempts, and substance use are rated on a 2-point scale of yes/no. The included symptoms represent 12 domains of mental disorders: somatic symptoms, sleep problems, inattention, depression, anger/irritability (measured together), mania, anxiety, psychosis, repetitive thoughts and behaviors, substance use, and suicide ideation/attempts. Generally, a respondent is flagged as requiring further inquiry for a given domain if they answered '2' or higher on at least one of the symptoms in each respective domain. As such, this outcome is operationalized as 12 dichotomous variables reflecting the 12 domains.

This scale assesses symptoms of depression and anxiety over the past two weeks in children and adolescents using 25 items. Items are scored on a 4-point scale (0-never; 1-sometimes; 2-often; and 3-always) for the last two weeks. The sum of all item scores are then converted into t-scores based on gender and age. Ranges are as follows: t-score<65 is normal range; >=65 and <=69 is borderline clinical; and >=70 is clinical range.

We employed a modified version of the FACI8. The FACI8 is traditionally a 16-item scale where each item is scored using a 4-point Likert scale of how frequently the event occurs in the last 2 weeks (1-Never; 2-Sometimes; 3-Most of the time; 4-Always). During baseline training, it was determined that four of the items in the traditional FACI8 were not reliable or valid in our study setting. As such, a 12-item version was employed. The modified FACI8 consists of two subscales: Attachment and Changeability. The attachment subscale includes 7 items and the changeability subscale comprises 5 items. Subscale scores are created by summing the relevant item responses. Unfortunately, there was a tech issue with one of the changeability items at endline and data were not collected for that item. As such, we removed that item from the changeability subscale to preserve comparability with baseline. The final score for attachment can be 7-28 and changeability from 4-16. Higher scores are better.

The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale is a 10-item scale that measures positive and negative feelings about the self to create a measure of overall self-worth. Items are scored using a 4-point Likert scale signaling level of agreement with each statement, from strongly agree to strongly disagree. Five items are reverse coded. The final score can take a value from 10 to 40, with higher scores indicating greater self-esteem. The scale asks about the last two weeks and the measure was taken up to 2 weeks following the end of the 12 week intervention.

Kidcope is a 15-item checklist designed to measure cognitive and behavioural coping in children and adolescents. It measures the frequency of 15 coping strategies, including: problem-solving, distraction, social support, social withdrawal, cognitive restructuring, self-criticism, blaming others, emotional expression, wishful thinking and resignation. Items rare scored on a 4-point scale (0 = "Not at all" to 3 = "Almost all the time"). The final measure is operationalized as 15 dichotomous indicators, where a '1' signals the participant used that coping strategy at least sometimes in the last two weeks for a stressor and a '0' means the participant never used the coping mechanism in the last two weeks.