Measurement Properties of the Motivation for Youth Treatment Scale with a Residential Group Home Population

A client’s motivation to receive services has long been identified as a highly relevant component of mental health treatment. In fact, ample evidence demonstrates that client motivation is significantly related to seeking services, remaining in services, and improved client outcomes (e.g., Broome, Joe, & Simpson, 2001; Ryan, Plant, & O’Malley, 1995; Schroder, Sellman, Frampton, & Deering, 2009). Additionally, it has been recognized that motivation is a “dynamic” characteristic that changes throughout treatment (Melnick, De Leon, Hawke, Jainchill, & Kressel, 1997; Schroder et al., 2009). In this way, motivation is an important client factor to assess and monitor throughout the treatment process. The broad construct of motivation is comprised of two separate, but related components conceptualized as motivation to change and motivation for treatment. As defined by DiClamente, Schlundt, and Gemmell (2004), motivation to change refers to a willingness to recognize problematic behavior and take steps toward change, whereas motivation for treatment refers to a willingness to seek help and remain compliant with an intervention program. In other words, a motivated person not only perceives the importance of changing, but also has confidence that they are able to be successful at making the change (Burke, Arkowitz, & Menchola, 2003)

Measurement Properties of the Motivation for Youth Treatment Scale with a Residential Group Home Population

A client’s motivation to receive services has long been identified as a highly relevant component of mental health treatment. In fact, ample evidence demonstrates that client motivation is significantly related to seeking services, remaining in services, and improved client outcomes (e.g., Broome, Joe, & Simpson, 2001; Ryan, Plant, & O’Malley, 1995; Schroder, Sellman, Frampton, & Deering, 2009). Additionally, it has been recognized that motivation is a “dynamic” characteristic that changes throughout treatment (Melnick, De Leon, Hawke, Jainchill, & Kressel, 1997; Schroder et al., 2009). In this way, motivation is an important client factor to assess and monitor throughout the treatment process. The broad construct of motivation is comprised of two separate, but related components conceptualized as motivation to change and motivation for treatment. As defined by DiClamente, Schlundt, and Gemmell (2004), motivation to change refers to a willingness to recognize problematic behavior and take steps toward change, whereas motivation for treatment refers to a willingness to seek help and remain compliant with an intervention program. In other words, a motivated person not only perceives the importance of changing, but also has confidence that they are able to be successful at making the change (Burke, Arkowitz, & Menchola, 2003)

The Relationship Between Change in Therapeutic Alliance Ratings and Improvement in Youth Symptom Severity: Whose Ratings Matter the Most?

This paper presents the psychometric evaluation of brief measures of therapeutic alliance (TA) for youths, clinicians and caregivers and a longitudinal analysis of relationships between changes in TA and changes in youth symptom and functioning severity. Psychometric analyses using methods from Classical Test Theory, Item Response Theory, and Factor Analysis indicate that the measures of TA used in this study offer something new for both practice and research. The measures have variability, sensitivity to change over time, brevity and can be used with multiple parties through parallel forms. The longitudinal analyses, employing hierarchical linear modeling with time-varying covariates, found that TA ratings of the clinician correlated with symptom improvement as rated by the clinician, caregiver and youth. Additional analyses showed that decreases in clinician-rated youth TA was most important in predicting a lower rate of youth improvement. Implications for future research and clinical practice are discussed