Date of Conferral

2021

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Psychology

Advisor

Michael Plasay

Abstract

AbstractThe purpose of this quantitative quasi-experimental one-group pretest/posttest design study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Las Vegas Valley crisis stabilization units (CSU) in treating adolescents with comorbid mental health disorders. The specific problem entailed examining the efficacy of CSUs in addressing comorbidities among adolescents when dual-diagnosis symptoms were present. Scholarly evidence in this regard was lacking. The quantitative examination included patient data from the Cross-Cutting Symptom Measure (CCSM). Baseline and outcome CCSM scores of the test required determining whether a statistically significant difference in CCSM scores occurred between the baseline and outcome. The sample was 120 adolescent patients with 2 or more psychiatric conditions, aged between 11 to 17. The baseline CCSM scores were compared to CCSM scores at discharge to determine whether scores or symptoms improved following CSU treatment. The study positively demonstrated the efficacy of treating comorbidities among adolescents by supplementing categorical diagnostics with dimensional assessments of mental health symptoms. CSUs were effective in treating comorbid psychiatric disorders among adolescents when dual-diagnosis symptoms were assessed. The results have social change implications for psychiatric practices, society, future researchers, and individuals. Future researchers should address prevailing and emerging clinical issues through recourse to evidence-based practices while filling existing literature gaps and practices through unutilized methods. Psychiatric practitioners should adopt the evidence-based approaches in this study to address comorbid mental health disorders among adolescents and other populations.

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