The purpose of this dissertation was to expand the understanding of youth in psychiatric residential treatment facilities by using psychosocial indicators to develop subgroup profiles. Additionally, differences in treatment outcomes between subgroups and the extent to which within-treatment factors accounted for observed differences in treatment outcomes between subgroups were examined. Data were extracted from the case records of 447 youth who were served in psychiatric residential treatment facilities over a seven year span of time. A latent class analysis was used to identify and describe subgroups. A series of multivariate regression analyses were used to examine group differences in functional impairment at discharge. Next, a path analysis was used to determine if there were differences in average change in functional impairment from admission to discharge between subgroups and to test within treatment factors as potential mediators of group differences. Finally, a logistic regression was used to determine if there were differences between groups in the probability of discharging to a community-based placement or discharging to another congregate care facility. The latent class analysis revealed four distinct subgroups of youth. The analyses of treatment outcomes revealed statistically significant differences in the level of functional impairment at discharge and average change in impairment between groups. Results from the path model of indirect effects supported that within treatment factors accounted for a statistically significant proportion of the observed difference in change between groups. No differences were found in discharge placement outcomes between groups. Implications for future research, practice and policies focused on youth in residential treatment are discussed.

Utilizing survey data collected in four communities in the State of Utah, this study examined the extent to which rural resident perceptions and attitudes toward local community circumstances influence their own expectations and attitudes subjectively toward future community development alternatives. Understanding perceptions of community and community development, as well as the patterns of localized community development, is crucial and needs to consider residents' opinions and attitudes toward unique rural economic, environmental, and social conditions in order to help preserve the unique characteristics of the way of life while continuing economic improvement and social betterment in rural areas. Three conceptual frameworks of development (economic, environmental, and social) are applied in this study to explore the relationship between local residents' general attitudes toward the current conditions in their community and their attitudes toward development alternatives. I examine how these three development frameworks guide rural scholars to understand whether the pattern of community development is consistent across the region or localized from community to community. Four different types of rural communities were selected in a Utah-wide community survey in the summer of 2008. These communities are facing four different change patterns: an increasing senior community, an energy-development community, a recreational community, and a constant community that has remained stable over the last five decades. Each type of community has its unique economy, lifestyle, culture, and environment, in which local residents have developed a way of life in response to these changes in social and economic structures. Research findings indicate that the local residents' self-perceptions of community economic situation are not significant indictors to support the arguments of the economic development framework. However, indexes of environmental and social development frameworks are found to have strong associations with locals' environmental and social development alternatives. Also, different types of rural community show different demands for community development strategies, implying that a single development framework would not be sufficient to explain the complex of local residents' perceptions and attitudes toward community development unless the researchers integrate other perspectives into the model.