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Motivation for Youth’s Treatment Scale (MYTS): A New Tool for Measuring Motivation Among Youths and Their Caregivers

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Abstract

Treatment motivation can be important for treatment adherence and outcomes, yet few measures of motivation are available for youths in mental health settings. These authors describe the psychometric properties of the motivation for youth’s treatment scale (MYTS), an 8-item measure with forms for youths and caregivers that assesses their problem recognition and treatment readiness. Results indicate that the MYTS offers practitioners and researchers a brief, psychometrically sound tool for assessing treatment motivation of youths and their caregivers. Multivariate analyses of clinical and non-clinical characteristics of youths and caregivers show that youths’ symptom severity consistently predicts treatment motivation for both groups. However, the strain of caring for the youth adds significantly to caregivers’ recognition of the youth’s troubles. While caregiver and youth motivations correlate, their agreement is low. Caregivers are nearly always more treatment motivated than youths. The authors discuss the implications of their findings for measurement, treatment planning, and future research.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by grants to Leonard Bickman, Principal Investigator, from the NIMH, R01-MH068589 and 4264600201. The authors are grateful to the NIMH and Dr. Bickman for the opportunity to conduct this research and hope that it will contribute to research, practice, and outcomes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Vanderbilt University, Peabody #151, 230 Appleton Place, Nashville, TN, 37203-5721, USA

    Carolyn S. Breda

  2. Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, ON, Canada

    Manuel Riemer

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  1. Carolyn S. Breda
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  2. Manuel Riemer
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Correspondence to Carolyn S. Breda.

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Breda, C.S., Riemer, M. Motivation for Youth’s Treatment Scale (MYTS): A New Tool for Measuring Motivation Among Youths and Their Caregivers. Adm Policy Ment Health 39, 118–132 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-012-0408-x

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