Greater Focus on Strengths is Associated with Successful Discharge in Youth Public Mental Health Treatment

• Published in: Administration and policy in mental health and mental health services research Vol. 48; no. 5; pp. 732 - 741
• Main Authors: Turner, Emilee H., Mueller, Charles W.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.09.2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aggregate data; Child & adolescent psychiatry; Clinical medicine; Clinical outcomes; Clinical Psychology; Discharge; Dissemination; Efficacy; Health Administration; Health Informatics; Health psychology; Information dissemination; Intervention; Low income groups; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mental health; Mental health care; Mental health services; Original Article; Positive psychology; Psychiatry; Psychotherapy; Public Health; Substance abuse treatment; Teenagers; Treatment outcomes; Well being; Youth; Youth; Strengths; Public mental health; Usual care; Positive psychology; Treatment target
• ISSN: 0894-587X; 1573-3289
• DOI: 10.1007/s10488-021-01121-x

The positive psychology literature suggests focusing on strengths in mental health treatment improves well-being, reduces symptomology, and is linked to positive outcomes. However, there is little research on the use of strengths in treatment and their association with outcomes in youth clinical populations. The present study used multi-level modeling to examine the association between the proportional targeting of strengths and treatment outcomes for 1,841 youth ages 3–19 receiving intensive in-home services through a public mental health system. A greater percentage of targets endorsed during treatment that were strength-focused was associated with increased likelihood of successful treatment discharge, even after accounting for other predictors, including episode length, youth age, and level of impairment at treatment start. Specifically, as the percentage of strengths targeted increased from 46 to 64% of total targets endorsed, the odds of successful discharge increased by 21%. Such practice-based findings derived from aggregated data regarding services to multiethnic low-income families extend the strength-based intervention literature to include youth with significant life challenges. Study findings point to the need to develop structured interventions suitable for examination via clinical efficacy and effectiveness trials. Clinical practice, dissemination, implementation, and future research implications are discussed.