Skip to main content
Article
Development of a Scale to Measure the Empowerment of Youth Consumers of Mental Health Services
Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders (2009)
  • Janet S. Walker, Portland State University
  • Elizabeth K. Thorne, Portland State University
  • Laurie E. Powers, Portland State University
  • Rujuta Gaonkar
Abstract
Within the field of children’s mental health, there is increasing emphasis on the idea that young people who experience mental health difficulties should be encouraged to take an active role in shaping not only their own treatment but also mental health services and systems. The terms empowerment and, to a lesser extent, self-efficacy have been used to describe consumers’confidenceandcapacityfortaking on thisactiverole.Measures of mental health empowerment andself-efficacyhave been developed for adults with mental illnesses and for parents and caregivers of children with serious emotional or behavioral disorders; however, no such measure exists to assess empowerment among youth who themselves experience serious mental health difficulties. This article describes the development of the Youth Empowerment Scale–Mental Health and provides initial evidence of its reliability and validity.
Keywords
  • Social work research,
  • Children's mental health services
Disciplines
Publication Date
June, 2009
Publisher Statement
Copyright (2009) Sage
Citation Information
Janet S. Walker, Elizabeth K. Thorne, Laurie E. Powers and Rujuta Gaonkar. "Development of a Scale to Measure the Empowerment of Youth Consumers of Mental Health Services" Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders (2009)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/laurie_powers/1/