Abstract
BackgroundLimited research exists on how therapeutic residential youth care (TRC) achieves treatment outcomes. More specifically, little is known about the association between contextual factors such as treatment organization, youth characteristics, and experienced social climate in TRC. Therefore, this study aims to investigate differences between latent classes of TRC and youth characteristics and their association with a positive perceived social TRC climate. MethodWe applied a person-centered approach in a cross-sectional design with a sample of 400 adolescents and 142 staff leaders. We analyzed youth and TRC characteristics in a latent class analysis and established associations with social climate for these two groupings. ResultsThe two types of TRC settings we found, i.e., larger TRC settings and family-style TRC settings, show small differences in social climate. These settings only differed on youth activities and staff shifts type (more cohabitation and unorganized activities outside TRC in family-style TRC). We identified four adolescent classes: A severe problems group, youth with incidental problems, family problems, and a migrant background group. The migrant background group showed the most positive perceptions of social climate, followed by youth with incidental problems, family problems, and severe problems. ConclusionsTRC staff should acknowledge how perceived social climate is connected to TRC characteristics and the heterogeneity of adolescents in care. As social climate is subjective and dynamic, a continuous dialogue about TRC social climate between staff and youth is recommended. Future research should investigate how these aspects are associated with treatment outcomes to increase our understanding of achieving positive outcomes in TRC.
Highlights
Norwegian Therapeutic Residential Youth Care (TRC) offers treat ment and care in an open setting for young people living outside their family environment
therapeutic residential youth care (TRC) organizations in the second class are defined by staff that adhere to a work schedule of shifts
Regarding TRC characteristics, we expected that small and publicly owned TRCs located in more populated areas and having routines and staff with relevant education were associated with a posi tive social climate
Summary
Norwegian Therapeutic Residential Youth Care (TRC) offers treat ment and care in an open setting for young people (temporarily) living outside their family environment. This study aims to investigate differences between latent classes of TRC and youth characteristics and their association with a positive perceived social TRC climate. Results: The two types of TRC settings we found, i.e., larger TRC settings and family-style TRC settings, show small differences in social climate. We identified four adolescent classes: A severe problems group, youth with incidental problems, family problems, and a migrant background group. The migrant background group showed the most positive perceptions of social climate, followed by youth with incidental problems, family problems, and severe problems. Conclusions: TRC staff should acknowledge how perceived social climate is connected to TRC characteristics and the heterogeneity of adolescents in care. Future research should investigate how these as pects are associated with treatment outcomes to increase our understanding of achieving positive outcomes in TRC
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