Självskattade psykiska problem hos pojkar och flickor på särskilda ungdomshem - en jämförande studie

Sammanfattning: This study analysed self-reported problems and symptoms of impaired mental health using the Youth Self-Report (YSR), in a group of 23 girls and 15 boys who were recently admitted to special residential homes run by The National Board of Institutional Care (Statens institutionsstyrelse, SiS). SiS delivers individually tailored compulsary care to young people by order of social services in all the municipalities of Sweden. The study found as expected that both girls and boys scored high on the total problem score and on externalising problems, significantly higher than a normal comparison group and also significantly higher than a group that received low-intensive family therapy. There were no significant differences between the sample group and other groups receiving intense treatment in behavior focused programmes, with overall high YSR problem scores. The study concluded that existing gender differences in terms of girls scoring higher than boys on internalising problems in the normal group even were found in the small sample group with a heavy externalising symptom load. This suggests that girls placed in special residential homes have more complex treatment needs than boys and that SiS should take this more into consideration when planning care of girls. Keywords: residential care, SiS, YSR, anti-social, youth, self-reported problems