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Emotional disturbance and substance abuse in youth placed in residential group homes

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Abstract

Residential group homes are increasingly important components of the system of mental health care for children and adolescents. However, they often do not have sufficient resources to provide active therapeutic programs as a result of their usual missions in serving abandoned or runaway youth. The authors studied 299 youth, ages 12 to 17 years, in five large residential group home programs in South Carolina. The instruments administered were (1) the Center for Epidemiological Survey—Depression Scale (CES-D), (2) a brief substance abuse questionnaire, and (3) questions about socioeconomic status, previous placements, and family relationship variables. A significant percentage scored above conservative clinical cut-off scores for the CES-D (51.7% scored 16 or above and 33.6% scored 23 or above). The youth also had significant levels of substance abuse problems. However, these variables were not predictive of previous multiple out-of-home placements (runaway behavior was predictive). These findings support the importance of addressing the clinical needs of youth in these programs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Vice Chair of the Department of Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Science, the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, 1800 Colonial Drive, P.O. Box 202, 29202, Columbia, SC

    Andres J. Pumariega M.D. (Professor, Director), N. Peter Johnson Ph.D. (a research associate professor of neuropsychiatry and behavioral science) & David Sheridan M.D., M.P.H. (assistant professor of family and preventive medicine)

  2. the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at, the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, 1800 Colonial Drive, P.O. Box 202, 29202, Columbia, SC

    Andres J. Pumariega M.D. (Professor, Director), N. Peter Johnson Ph.D. (a research associate professor of neuropsychiatry and behavioral science) & David Sheridan M.D., M.P.H. (assistant professor of family and preventive medicine)

  3. Department of Mental Health, the Williams S. Hall Psychiatric Institute, 1800 Colonial Drive, P.O. Box 202, 29202, Columbia, SC

    Andres J. Pumariega M.D. (Professor, Director)

Authors
  1. Andres J. Pumariega M.D.
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  2. N. Peter Johnson Ph.D.
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  3. David Sheridan M.D., M.P.H.
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Pumariega, A.J., Johnson, N.P. & Sheridan, D. Emotional disturbance and substance abuse in youth placed in residential group homes. The Journal of Mental Health Administration 22, 426–432 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02518636

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02518636

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