| The Life Challenge Program (LCP) is an experiential, motivation enhancing group intervention designed for adolescents in a youth detention facility. The program embeds Motivational Interviewing (MI) into teambuilding exercises and is designed to assist youths in building their skills in problem solving, goal setting, interpersonal communication, and anger management. Using an experimental design, 233 adolescents residing in a youth detention facility in a midsized city in Oregon completed a pretest and were randomly assigned to either the LCP or to a usual care condition. Of these participants, 138 youths completed a 2 week posttest for either the LCP (N = 82) or the usual care condition (N = 66). Ten youths participated in both the usual care and LCP condition. Participation in the study was voluntary. Perceived self-efficacy and motivation to change were assessed seven times: at pretest, after 2 weeks of usual care, after 2 weeks of treatment, after 4 weeks of treatment, after 6 weeks of treatment, at the end of 8 weeks of treatment, and again at follow up (1 month after completion of posttests). Results were examined in relation to sex, number of previous offenses, level of crime severity, number of previous out of home placements, and suicide risk level at pretest. |
