Assessing behavior and social competence of severely emotionally disturbed youth admitted to psychiatric residential treatment.
OBJECTIVE
Youth admitted to psychiatric residential treatment centers demonstrate behavioral problems and social competence deficits. Little systematic inquiry has quantified these issues or their impact on therapeutic care.


METHODS
Secondary data from Child Behavioral Checklists and Relationship Questionnaires were collected through retrospective chart reviews and were statistically analyzed.


RESULTS
Seventy-one percent of the 113 subjects met clinical behavioral problem levels. Youth who were older than 15 years at admission lagged significantly behind 12th-grade norms in social competence, having scores congruent with 8th-grade students.


CONCLUSIONS
Youth in this study had significant behavioral problems, and deficits in social competence were identified among older youth.
Groot
Jodi Morstein
JM
College of Nursing, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA. jodi.groot@nurs.utah.edu
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D005120:Extraversion, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007439:Introversion, Psychological; D008297:Male; D017008:Negotiating / Q000523:psychology; D009730:Nursing Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D010343:Patient Admission; D011568:Psychiatric Nursing / Q000379:methods; D012114:Residential Treatment; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012919:Social Behavior; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology