NCJ Number
186141
Journal
Residential Treatment for Children & Youth Volume: 17 Issue: 2 Dated: 1999 Pages: 33-48
Date Published
1999
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This longitudinal study investigated the effectiveness of residential treatment for 27 adolescents in Ohio between 11 and 15 years of age who had histories of mental health and delinquency-related problems.
Abstract
The adolescents had behavioral and emotional disturbances, and 79 percent were male. The youth had an average of 4.74 past out-of-home placements; 53 percent had been in a previous residential treatment facility, 54 percent had a past psychiatric hospitalization, 54 percent had been in a juvenile detention facility, and 60 percent had some past involvement in the juvenile justice system. The adolescents were assessed using a variety of self-report and staff-report measures at the beginning and the end of treatment and at several points in between. The measures evaluated behavioral and emotional problems, delinquency-related maladjustment, response to psychotherapy, and client satisfaction. The mean length of residential treatment was 12.05 months. Results showed significant evidence of improvement on five measures and suggestive evidence on three measures but no evidence of positive change on three measures. Adolescents were more satisfied with individual therapy than with group therapy at both the beginning and the end of placement. Most of the improvement that occurred took place during the first 6 months of treatment, suggesting residential treatment for adolescents similar to those in the study sample may be limited to about 6 months duration without major sacrifice of treatment benefits. 18 references and 5 tables