[One Size Fits All? Using Psychosocial Risk Assessments to Predict Service Use in Early Intervention and Prevention]

One Size Fits All? Using Psychosocial Risk Assessments to Predict Service Use in Early Intervention and Prevention Early intervention and prevention services offer a variety of programs. At the same time, program participants differ widely in their service use. This study aims at investigating the prognostic validity of psychosocial risk assessments in predicting the participants' service use. The psychosocial risk assessment "Heidelberg Stress Scale" is used to predict aspects of service use (dosage, attrition, intervention content, working relationship). Service use data of N = 1.514 participants of a home-visiting program will be analyzed via Machine-Learning-Algorithms. Dosage and intervention content can be predicted with psychosocial risk assessments. The classification strength is small. Global and continuous risk scales have a prognostic advantage over single categorical risk items. Financial burden has a significant influence on every aspect of service use. Psychosocial risk assessments provide additional information that can support intervention planning. Yet, these instruments should be supplemented by additional diagnostic information.