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Research at NATSAP Programs
There is a variety of research done
at NATSAP member programs.
These studies cover a wide
range of topics and have involved both
single
programs efforts as well as collaborative projects
between
multiple NATSAP members.
Outdoor Division of the Aspen
Education Group
http://www.aspeneducation.com
In collaboration with the
University of Arkansas, Sarah Lewis, Ph.D., Director of
the Research Division at the Center for Research,
Assessment, and Treatment Efficacy (CReATE) and three
NATSAP member programs (SUWS, SUWS of the Carolinas, and
Adirondack Leadership Expeditions) have undertaken a
rigorous longitudinal study to evaluate the
effectiveness of their programming. The study, which
collects information from clients at the outset of the
program, one-week after admission, at graduation, and
then again at three- and 12-months post discharge,
completed data collection in October 2008. Preliminary
results have already been presented at NATSAP as well as
several national venues, such as the American
Psychological Association and the Association for
Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies. These preliminary
findings, based on both standardized outcome instruments
and individual process measures indicate that wilderness
therapy, as practiced at these programs is associated
with significant decreases in suicidality, anxiety and
depression, substance abuse, social conflict, sleep
disruption, violence, as well as an overall reduction in
externalizing behaviors, such as impulsivity, defiance,
and hostility. Further, participants are demonstrating
improvements in work and academic functioning, during
the follow-up portion of the study.
Lastly, the
outdoor division of Aspen Educational Group, in
collaboration with CReATE and the University of Arkansas
are also collecting data on a second outcome study,
examining the effectiveness of young adult substance
abuse programs. Passages to Recovery and Four Circles
Recovery Center are participating in this research
endeavor and outcome data from these wilderness-based
programs will be compared to data from a traditional
residential drug and alcohol treatment program. Data
collection will be complete in 2010. Preliminary data
analyses strongly support wilderness therapy
interventions in the treatment of substance dependency
in young adults.
For Further Information:
Data collection (for the first study reviewed above) is
projected to be completed by the fall of 2008 and full
data analyses will be available in 2009; in the
meantime, there is a Power Point presentation describing
the adolescent study in more detail (click
here to view the Power Point about the Aspen
Education group/CReATE wilderness therapy study).
Further information can also be obtained by contacting
Dr. Lewis directly at slewis@createnc.com, 828.278.0743,
or
www.createnc.com
Outdoor Behavior Healthcare Research Cooperative
(OBHRC):
A Research Collaborative with a number of NATSAP Outdoor
programs as members and a number of accessible published studies
and reports
http://cehd.umn.edu/kin/research/OBHRC/ :
The purpose of the Outdoor Behavior Healthcare Research
Cooperative (OBHRC) is to carry out a comprehensive research
program on outdoor behavioral healthcare programs operating in
North America.
Research began in 1999 with a major study of four wilderness
therapy programs and has continued with collaboration on several
studies and publications.
Two
Research Reports of note (others are available at the OBHRC
website):
Canyon Research & Consulting
(www.canyonrc.com)
A privately owned company comprised of a team of psychologists
and researchers, Canyon Research and Consulting conducted a multi-center study of psychological, social, and familial
outcomes for youth treated in private residential programs (a
number of which were NATSAP members). It
is the first large-scale, systematic exploration of outcomes in
private residential treatment.
Alpine Academy/Utah Youth Village
Erda, UT
(h Youth Village
Erda, UT
(click
here to visit Alpine Academy/Utah Youth Village)
A five-year independent study on Families First, was conducted by
Dr. Robert Lewis, researcher for the Department of Human
Services and Adjunct Professor at the University of Utah
The research paper was published by Children & Youth Services
Review in October 2004.
Get a copy:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science
Wilderness Quest, Monticello, UT and
Life-Line, Inc., North Salt
Lake, UT
(click
here to visit Wilderness Quest, Monticello, UT)
(click
here to visit Life-Line, Inc., North Salt Lake, UT)
A PhD dissertation comparing a outdoor/wilderness program and a
residential treatment center.
Therapeutic Benefits of a Wilderness Therapy Program and a
Therapeutic Community Program for Troubled Adolescents
Dissertation Abstract - Kreg J. Edgmon, Ph.D.
[The first 24 pages of this 203 page dissertation can be viewed
for free and the entire study can be purchased at
http://www.umi.com]
Wediko Children's Services
(click here to visit Wediko
Children's Services)
Wediko has a history of collaborating on rigorous research
projects
designed to better undersand the behavior and treatment of
children at
risk. An example of such research is the current work being done
By
Jack Wright, PhD of Brown University and Audry Zakriski, PhD of
Connecticut College. Wright and Zakriski, in collaboration with
Wediko
staff, have published ground-breaking work that demonstrates the
importance of viewing problem behavior within the social context
in
which it occurs rather than as an exclusively individualized
trait.
For more, see:
Zakriski, A. L., Wright, J. C., & Parad, H. W. (2006). Intensive
short-term residential treatment: A contextual evaluation of the
"stop-gap" model. Brown University Child & Adolescent Behavior
Letter,
22(6)
Zakriski, A. L., Wright, J. C., & Underwood, M. K. (2005).
Gender
similarities and differences in children's social behavior:
Finding
personality in contextualized patterns of adaptation. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 88(5) p884-
Wright, J. C., & Zakriski, A. L. (2003). When syndromal
similarity
obscures functional dissimilarity: Distinctive evoked
environments of
externalizing and mixed syndrome boys. Journal of Consulting and
Clinical Psychology, 71(3), p516-
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