Long-Term Outcome Studies of Wilderness Therapy Programs Show Teens Improve at Adirondack Leadership Expeditions
Parents and professionals considering a residential or outdoor program for their child face a difficult and emotional decision.
Is this the right placement for my child?
Can the program help change my child’s self-defeating behaviors?
Will these changes last once my child comes home?
The results from recent independent outcome studies indicate that placement in an Aspen Education Group residential or outdoor program is an effective choice that provides both immediate and lasting benefits for youth and families.
Outcome Studies
Aspen Education Group has participated in multiple independent research studies to ensure that we provide the most cutting-edge, evidence-based therapeutic practices and clinical models within each of our programs. As the leading provider of therapeutic education programs for youth and young adults, we feel it is our responsibility to measure the effectiveness of our methods and the sustainability of our results.
• Our families invest time and money into our programs and deserve to know whether these programs make a lasting difference.
• It is Aspen’s mission to serve youth and families, and we believe all programs should
be held accountable for their results.
• As the nation’s largest and most comprehensive network of services, we have the unique advantage of learning from multi-program studies.
Outcome data has helped us to understand the most effective models of treatment for mental health issues and substance abuse, and has led to the establishment of Aspen’s Best Practices, standards that are applied across our programs to ensure the highest levels of quality care and treatment.
The following research-based data demonstrates the measurable, positive impact quality programs can provide for students and families.
Outdoor Study
Aspen Education Group’s Outdoor Behavior Healthcare (OBH) programs, also referred to as wilderness therapy, participated in two long-term, independent research studies, most recently from March 2006 through October 2008. One hundred-ninety adolescents, ages 14-17, enrolled in three different wilderness therapy programs were assessed at admission; one week after they started treatment; graduation from the wilderness therapy program; three months after graduation; and 12 months after graduation. Adolescent participants in wilderness therapy programs experienced reported struggling with issues such as substance use, depression, anxiety, suicidal ideations, ADHD and academic performance.
Research Results
After attending an Aspen Outdoor Behavioral Health program:
Mental health issues including stress, depression and anxiety are significantly improved. OBH treatment helped reduce stress, depression and anxiety in teens, especially in those with more extreme levels, with continued reduction shown at the six-month follow-up assessment.
Substance abuse and dependence is significantly reduced, with results lasting through the 12-month follow-up. Students experienced substance-related pathology within the clinically significant and elevated range pretreatment, but symptoms fell within a normal range upon graduation. Most importantly, these results were sustained through the three and 12 month follow-up assessments.
Social conflict and aggressive behaviors decrease. Reduction of these self-defeating behaviors continues post-graduation, with greatest improvement shown at the 12-month follow-up assessment.
These results suggest that Aspen Education Group’s wilderness therapy programs are
teaching important emotion regulation skills, as well as providing a climate for adolescents to rehearse newly acquired strategies to manage negative emotions such as worry, sadness, and anger. Overall findings provide considerable support for the use of wilderness therapy programs in treating resistant adolescents.
Research conducted by: Ellen Behrens, Ph.D., Canyon Research & Consulting, Inc.; Sarah (Salli) Lewis, Ph.D. and Ellen Leen-Feldner, Center for Research, Assessment, and Treatment Efficacy and Arkansas Institute of Developmental Science; Keith Russell, Ph.D., Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare Research Cooperative, University of Minnesota.
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