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Caregiver Understanding of Adolescent Development in Residential Treatment
Author(s) -
Kools Susan,
Spiers Jude
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
journal of child and adolescent psychiatric nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.331
H-Index - 35
eISSN - 1744-6171
pISSN - 1073-6077
DOI - 10.1111/j.1744-6171.2002.tb00390.x
Subject(s) - discernment , human sexuality , psychology , grounded theory , adolescent development , clinical practice , developmental psychology , medicine , clinical psychology , qualitative research , nursing , gender studies , social science , philosophy , epistemology , sociology
PROBLEM Caretaker knowledge and understanding of adolescent development and its application to clinical practice with severely emotionally disturbed adolescents in residential treatment. METHODS Twenty child‐care workers and registered nurses participated in semistructured interviews analyzed using dimensional analysis, a grounded theory method. FINDINGS Three distinct categories of caregivers were identified based on level of expertise and engagement in developmentally appropriate treatment practices: inexperienced, party‐liners, and transcenders. Developmental issues identified included lack of resident preparation for puberty and staff discomfort with adolescent sexuality. CONCLUSIONS Caregiver, institutional, and social barriers to developmentally sensitive practice were identified. Practice recommendations include direct preparation of children and adolescents in residential treatment for pubertal changes and sexual development, and carefkl discernment of age‐appropriate and psycho‐pathological adolescent behaviors.