A Multi-Stakeholder Perspective on Factors Affecting Successful Transition to Adulthood for Youth with Severe Emotional Disturbances.
Abstract
This study elicited the perspectives of youth, caregivers, service providers and researchers
to explore how communities can best support the transition to adulthood for youth
ages 16-21 with mental health and functional impairments, who are at risk of disconnecting
from health and human services. Framed by Relational Systems Evaluation (RSE) and
Positive Youth Development (PYD), our study demonstrates the importance of engagement
with youth experts. Group Concept Mapping (GCM), a collaborative multiphase mixed-methods
approach, was used as a systematic process for participants to make meaning of qualitative
data using multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analysis (Kane and Trochim
in Concept mapping for planning and evaluation, Sage Publications Inc., Thousand Oaks,
2007). Across all participant groups, Life Skills were perceived as highly important
and highly feasible for a successful transition to adulthood. However, Positive Social
Support & Connectedness were viewed as less important and less feasible by all groups.
When examined closely, youth perspectives differed from caregiver and provider perspectives
in the factors they prioritized and deemed feasible. Our findings have implications
for community mental health services and positive youth development program practitioners.
Type
Journal articleSubject
Mental healthPositive youth development
Severe emotional disturbance
Transition to adulthood
Transition-age youth
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/26439Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1007/s10560-022-00898-6Publication Info
Cox, Milira; Urban, Jennifer Brown; Lich, Kristen Hassmiller; Wells, Rebecca; Lawrence,
C Nicole; & Kwaja, Nadira (2022). A Multi-Stakeholder Perspective on Factors Affecting Successful Transition to Adulthood
for Youth with Severe Emotional Disturbances. Child & adolescent social work journal : C & A. pp. 1-19. 10.1007/s10560-022-00898-6. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/26439.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Show full item recordScholars@Duke
Nicole Lawrence
Research Scientist, Senior
Dr. Lawrence has a primary focus on designing and conducting community-based research
and evaluation studies of programs serving at-risk children and their families across
a range of disciplines including early childhood and elementary education, mental
health, and social services/child welfare. Her research interests were established
through prior professional experiences in program development and management within
non-profit organizations underscoring the needs for, and the chal

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