The purpose of this study was to increase the level of completed academic tasks through the use of a token economy system with female adolescents in an institutional classroom setting. A 70 percent anticipated completion of academic tasks was the primary aim. Secondly, would there he an 80 percent increase of appropriate behaviors following intervention? Six emotionally disturbed girls living in an adolescent treatment center; subjects of this study, were unable to adjust to the socially acceptable norms of behavior. Each of these girls was described as too disturbed to learn. Utilizing the principles of behavioral change, the experimental classroom was set up to assist each girl in increasing her on academic task behavior and/or to enable her to work and learn independently in the classroom. The environment was arranged in such a way that when a girl interacted with it, learning was maximized. Results found the average classroom percent of weeks meeting or exceeding 70 percent was 31 percent. The days meeting 70 percent criteria was 51 percent. The class average of on academic task rose from 10 percent to 88 percent.

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) exhibit a strong influence on later functioning in adolescence and adulthood, including impacts on physical and mental health, as well as behavioral and risk-related outcomes. A dose-response effect is evident, in that as the number of ACEs increase, the likelihood of detrimental outcomes similarly rises. Important outcomes associated with increased ACEs include: physical health problems like cancer or heart disease, risky sexual behaviors, diagnosis of a trauma-related disorder, and criminality (Felitti et al., 1998; Espleta et al., 2018; Lew & Xian, 2019; Ramakrishnan et al. 2019; Van Niel et al., 2014). More recently, the exploration of the impact of ACEs has demonstrated differential accumulated risk in offender populations, with ACEs that are more prevalent and a more intensified dose-response relationship between ACEs and outcomes associated with sexual offending and other violent behaviors (Harlow, 1999; Levenson, Willis, & Prescott, 2014; Baglivio et al., 2014; Stinson, Quinn, & Levenson, 2016). One such population evidencing increased risk are youth who have engaged in sexually abusive behaviors. These youth have experienced ACEs at higher rates than other typical youth in the community, or those involved in the justice system (Baglivio & Epps, 2016; Levenson, Willis, & Prescott, 2016), resulting in them being categorized as high-risk. Predictors like out-of-home placements have been linked to an earlier onset of aggression and sexually abusive behaviors (Hall, Stinson, & Moser, 2017). Conversely, ACEs and the youth’s own behavior are two important factors to consider when evaluating the timing and persistence of an out-of-home placement. The current study evaluates the temporal relationship between two main factors (specific ACEs and the youth’s own behavior) and out-of-home placements. We also plan to examine the relationship between these two factors and the persistence of specific placements. Data for this study consisted of archival records that were collected from a nonprofit inpatient treatment facility for adolescents who had engaged in sexually abusive behavior. The sample was comprised of 290 males and 5 females between the ages of 10 and 17 years of age (M = 14.8, SD = 1.56). The mean age was 14.8 years at time of first admission (SD = 1.56; range: 10-17 years). The sample was minimally diverse with regard to ethnicity: 83.1% Caucasian, 9.5% African American, 0.7% Hispanic, 4.4% mixed race, and 2.4% unspecified. The majority of participants were referred by the state’s Division of Children’s Services (68%), while others were referred by court representatives (20%), parents/guardians (3%), mental health providers (4%), insurance representatives (0.7%), or others (0.3%). These referrals were often used as an alternative to formal legal sanctioning (i.e., court diversion). Prior to admission, the majority of participants were residing in either a family member’s home (40.3%), residential care (78.3%) and/or foster care (48.4%), though others came from group homes (37.3%), inpatient care (36.9%), and/or a friend’s home (4.4%). The majority had only one admission to the current facility (89.5%), while approximately 10% had two or more admissions. It is expected that physical and sexual abuse will be the most significant predictors for placements like juvenile detention centers and residential treatment facilities. It is also expected that ACEs will prompt more immediate but also longer out-of-home placement decisions resulting from the youth’s own behavior. This study is for an honors thesis and has a completion deadline set for next month. For this reason, statistical analyses are still underway. Results and implications for this research will be discussed.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to explore the potential benefits of a primitive wilderness skills intervention (POST) on the therapeutic change process of adolescent females enrolled in a residential treatment center. A qualitative data analysis approach was used. A convenience sample of eight female adolescents was selected by therapist referral. The data were analyzed using open, axial, and selective coding. Data analysis was used to assess participants' progress in the therapeutic change. Further analysis revealed a core theme connecting participants' POST experience with feelings of self-empowerment and reflective connections to their individual therapeutic change process. Constructive enabling was the gerund provided to represent this core theme. Attributes of constructive enabling included the opportunity for creative expression, the recognition of and reliance on social resources, the application of individual effort in challenging situations, the completion of a finished product, and the facilitation of reflective thought.

This study compared the attitudes of administrators, teachers and students in school settings for at-risk students. Students are considered at-risk if they are not academically successful. Teacher and student science education attitudes were analyzed by survey data and categorization of teaching practices. Additionally, data from classroom videotapes and teacher interviews was collected to support and triangulate survey data. Study participants were selected from two school settings for at-risk students 1) public alternative schools (PAS) and 2) private residential treatment centers (RTC). When the survey questions were analyzed by school type and teacher classification several differences were found between 1) teacher responses, 2) students responses and 3) the difference between student and teacher responses. However, when students were analyzed by their teachers' teaching classification no significant differences were found for any of the survey questions or question groupings.

No description available.

No description available.

Seriously emotionally disturbed adolescents in residential placement tend to act out aggressively. Such behavior often creates an atmosphere of intimidation and fear which contributes to the high stress, sense of incompetence, and frequent turn over of youth care staff. Formal training for these practitioners is limited in scope and availability. The training program, Therapeutic Crisis Intervention (TCI) (Budlong I 1983) which was the focus of this study, was designed to train youth care workers to deal with aggressive youth. It was anticipated that the program would increase youth care workers perceived sense of competence and reduce their perceived level of job stress. The Occupational Stress Inventory (OST) and the Correctional Institution Environment Scale (CIES) were used to measure reported perceptions of competence. The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) was used to measure reported perceptions of job stress. Fifty one subjects, from four residential centers, were randomly assigned to a training group, a training group with follow-up, or a control group. A four way ANOVA was used to analyze main effects and single interactive effects of the classification variables (i.e., age, educational attainment and experience) with training. In general, the analysis provided the following conclusions: (1) Neither reported self efficacy nor reported job stress were significantly impacted by TCI Training; (2) Although younger participants receiving training without follow-up reported a greater sense of depersonalization (i.e., higher perceived stress) and a lower sense of competence in using supportive skills than their older counterparts, younger participants who received follow-up in addition to the training, reported a lower sense of depersonalization (i.e., lower perceived stress) and a higher sense of competence in using support skills than their older counterparts; (3) Older participants reported lower levels of depersonalization after receiving training. Implications for these findings are discussed. / Ed. D.

No description available.

The present study aimed to examine the relationship between maladaptive schemas and treatment outcomes of adolescent and adult women with an eating disorder receiving residential treatment. Existing data were obtained from 67 females aged 11 to 47 years (m =18.61) that had entered residential treatment for anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), or eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS) at a Western United States residential eating disorder treatment facility. Pre- and posttreatment data were collected by the personnel at the facility on eating disorder symptomatology, mood, and core beliefs. Three hypotheses were tested: (a) that maladaptive schemas would be positively correlated with eating disorder symptom severity, (b) that females endorsing more maladaptive schemas at admission or those with stable maladaptive schemas across their course of treatment would have less favorable posttreatment outcomes at the time of their discharge from residential treatment than females with lower scores initially or improved scores over the course of their treatment and follow-up, and (c) that females endorsing more maladaptive schemas or with greater stability of their maladaptive schemas across treatment will spend more time in residential treatment. To address the above hypotheses a series of hierarchical linear regressions, linear mixed-effects models, and Cox proportional-hazards regressions were conducted. Results ndicated that maladaptive schemas at the start of treatment were predominantly predictive of admit rather than discharge symptomatology. Different combinations of maladaptive schemas were found to have both positive and negative relationships to one's symtomatology across time. The most common maladaptive schemas found to be significantly associated with symptomatology were impaired limits, impaired autonomy and performance, and overvigilance and inhibition. Lastly, a relationship existed between both impaired limits and overvigilance and inhibition and a participant's length of stay in treatment. The results of this study suggest that maladaptive schemas provide some predictability of treatment outcomes and are important targets for psychological interventions aimed at recovery. Furthermore, the results of the study highlight the complexity associated with maladaptive schemas in females with eating disorders and the need for longitudinal research to examine common patterns and therapeutic targets based on diagnosis and status in treatment.