The present study examined the relationship between initial youth hope, measured within the first 4 weeks of mental health treatment, and treatment progress over time (self-, caregiver-, and clinician-report of symptom severity) in a clinical sample of youth ages 11-18 years (N = 356). The psychometric properties of the CHS-PTPB, a revised version of the Children's Hope Scale, are also presented. Results indicate the CHS-PTPB is a psychometrically sound measure for use in this population. Additionally, results found that while higher levels of hope were associated with lower levels of symptom severity at baseline, initial level of hope was not significantly related to symptom improvement over time as reported by the youth and caregiver. Surprisingly, higher initial hope predicted slower treatment progress as rated by clinicians. According to clinician-rated symptom severity, youth with high initial hope and high baseline symptom severity show the poorest predicted clinical outcome. Implications, future directions, and limitations of the study are discussed.

Youth life satisfaction is a component of subjective well-being, an important part of a strengths-based approach to treatment. This study establishes the psychometric properties of the Brief Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale – PTPB version (BMSLSS-PTPB). The BMSLSS-PTPB shows evidence of construct validity with significant correlations as expected to measures of youth hope and youth symptom severity, and no relationship as expected to youth treatment outcome expectations. A longitudinal analysis was conducted examining the relationship between youth-reported life satisfaction and mental health symptom severity (youth, caregiver-, and clinician-report) for 334 youth (aged 11–18 years) receiving in-home treatment. Results indicate that life satisfaction consistently increases over the course of treatment but increases faster in youth whose symptom severity, as rated by all reporters, decreases. Implications, future directions, and limitations of the study are discussed.

This study introduces the youth and caregiver versions of the Treatment Outcome Expectations Scale (TOES) and presents the results of comprehensive psychometric analyses in a large sample of clinically-referred youth (N = 291) ages 11-18 and their caregivers (N = 268). This study also examines whether expectations are predictive of early or overall treatment change as measured by changes in youth symptom severity rated by multiple respondents (youth, caregiver, and clinician). Additionally, the relationship between treatment outcome expectations and several background, pretreatment, and clinical variables is explored. Finally, this study investigates the correspondence in outcome expectations between dyads of youth and caregivers. Results demonstrate the TOES is a psychometrically sound measure for use in this population. Findings also indicate that while higher youth outcome expectations significantly relate to higher youth-rated internalizing symptom severity at baseline, they also relate to a faster rate of reduction in internalizing symptom severity. Additionally, caregiver age and youth gender were significant predictors of youth-rated outcome expectations. Results also demonstrate a small, positive correlation between youth and caregiver ratings of outcome expectations. Implications, future directions, and limitations of the study are discussed.

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