Page 100 - Age of onset of disruptive behavior of residentially treated adolescents -Sjoukje de Boer

the SCL-90-R (Arrindell & Ettema, 2003). The SCL-90-R total score at admission and discharge was used to examine possible differences in the degree of psychological distress at the start and end of the treatment between completers and dropouts. On average, at one and a half year follow-up (M=1.51 years, SD=0.69, min. 0.91 - max. 4.55 years), the participants were interviewed on living conditions, daytime activities (e,g., school, work), substance usage, and criminal offending. The period for which the information was collected was from discharge to follow-up. To obtain a fair image of how the participant was doing and to ensure the reliability of the data, the interview at follow-up took place at the residence of the participant.
Besides the patient interview, the research assistants also screened the patient files on age at admission, criminal offences (type, frequency and age at onset), substance usage (type and age at onset), and duration of treatment.
Psychological problems
The Symptom Checklist Revised (SCL-90-R) (Arrindell & Ettema, 2003) is a standardized self-report questionnaire for the assessment of psychological and related physical problems and was initially intended for adult populations. In recent decades, it has become increasingly common to use the questionnaire with adolescent populations as well, including adolescent inpatients with severe behavioral problems (Boon & De Boer, 2007; Bruinsma & Boon, 2001). The SCL-90-R consists of 90 items that can be rated on a five-point Likert scale (“not at all” to “extremely”) to indicate the severity of the symptom over the previous week. The total score is known as the Global Severity Index (GSI), which has good reliability (Arrindell & Ettema, 2003), and has become the most commonly used measure of psychological distress (Holi, 2003; Prinz et al., 2013).
Early-onset of disruptive behavior
Presence of disruptive behavior was based on the age when treatment was sought for disruptive behavior or special education was indicated because of such behavior, or the age at which the youngster started to commit criminal offences. The data with regard to disruptive behavior was collected by research assistants and based on patient interview and file review. To obtain the fullest possible picture, the
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