Factors Influencing Success in Day Treatment Programs for Children Ages 5 to 10

Factors Influencing Success in Day Treatment Programs for Children Ages 5 to 10 by Leah Morken MS, Walden University, 2013 BS, Viterbo University 2001 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Clinical Psychology Walden University November 2019 Abstract Improving the success rates of children in mental health treatment is an important step to bettering lives. Day treatment programs are intermediate level treatment modalities that help children who are struggling with their mental health. Success rates differ for children in day treatment programs and several studies have been done evaluating various factors. This research addressed whether a child who had been exposed to trauma showed as much success in a program as a child that had not been exposed to trauma. Other variables were to determine if children have different levels of success based on their diagnosis. The study was quasi-experimental and used clinical documentation to assess the different factors and level of success. A Kruskal-Wallis rank sum test and the Pearson chi-squared test were run to determine if there was a difference in success rates for 85 children with different diagnoses. This study determined no significant difference between the success rate for children based on either the diagnosis of depression or oppositional defiant disorder. A one-way ANOVA was run to determine if there was a difference in success rates for children who had experienced trauma and those who had not. This study determined no significant difference between success rates for children who had experienced trauma and those who had not. This study offers day treatment programs additional information to ensure programming offered to children is equally successful for all children.Improving the success rates of children in mental health treatment is an important step to bettering lives. Day treatment programs are intermediate level treatment modalities that help children who are struggling with their mental health. Success rates differ for children in day treatment programs and several studies have been done evaluating various factors. This research addressed whether a child who had been exposed to trauma showed as much success in a program as a child that had not been exposed to trauma. Other variables were to determine if children have different levels of success based on their diagnosis. The study was quasi-experimental and used clinical documentation to assess the different factors and level of success. A Kruskal-Wallis rank sum test and the Pearson chi-squared test were run to determine if there was a difference in success rates for 85 children with different diagnoses. This study determined no significant difference between the success rate for children based on either the diagnosis of depression or oppositional defiant disorder. A one-way ANOVA was run to determine if there was a difference in success rates for children who had experienced trauma and those who had not. This study determined no significant difference between success rates for children who had experienced trauma and those who had not. This study offers day treatment programs additional information to ensure programming offered to children is equally successful for all children. Factors Influencing Success in Day Treatment Programs for Children Ages 5 to 10 by Leah Morken MS, Walden University, 2013 BS, Viterbo University, 2001 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Clinical Psychology Walden University November 2019