| A psycho-educational leadership development model has previously been shown to be effective in promoting mental health recovery in adults with psychiatric disabilities (Bullock, Ensing, Alloy, & Weddle, 2000). The purpose of the present study was to determine if components of a leadership development curriculum could be successfully applied to the recovery process with at-risk youth.; In the present study, twenty at-risk adolescents from a clinical community sample attained significant levels of change from pre-treatment to post-treatment scores across several measures of adolescent behavioral adjustment. Parametric analyses and analyses of effect sizes were conducted on the Ohio Scales (Ogles, 1996), the Mental Health Recovery Measure - Adolescent Version (MHRM-AV; Young, Bullock, & Ensing, 1999) and the Achenbach Youth Self Report (YSR) (1991). The MHRM-AV revealed significant improvement on the Overcoming Stuckness subscale. However, Achenbach's YSR Total T and Externalizing T Scores were found to be significantly higher following treatment. Effect sizes for subscales ranged from medium on the YSR Total and Externalizing scores, to large on the MHRM-AV Overcoming Stuckness score. Individual outcomes regarding the effects of the treatment were assessed using reliable change and clinical change indicators. Parametric analyses of worker ratings assessing participant's functioning at pre-treatment and again at a nine-month follow-up did not reveal any significant changes.; In conclusion, the short-term, pre-treatment to post-treatment changes noted from these findings with at-risk adolescents as evidenced on the “Overcoming Stuckness” subscale supported previous research which found that in adults with psychiatric disabilities, overcoming this initial stage appeared to be the most difficult part of the recovery process (Young and Ensing, 1999). Further, the outcome of this study is also consistent with previous research (Bullock et al., 2000) that suggested that mental health recovery can be promoted using a psychoeducational leadership development approach. The research hypotheses that participants would show improvements on psychometric measures of recovery were only partially supported, with participants evidencing both significant deterioration and improvement. Follow-up outcomes suggest that the effects of the treatment intervention may have been mitigated by intervening variables such as poor social supports, unemployment, teen pregnancy, homelessness, drug abuse, and victimization among study participants. |
