Since our inception in 2006, Open Sky has collected data every year in the study of our outcomes. Our empirical research shows that Open Sky is extremely effective at helping our adolescent and young adult students, and that our students maintain these gains for months after graduating.
Learn more about the empirical research we conduct at Open Sky:
Open Sky Research Question
Empirical Research: Much More than Satisfaction Surveys
Open Sky Research Outcomes
Summary of Open Sky Research
In More Depth: Open Sky Research Rationale
References
Open Sky Research Question
Open Sky conducts evaluative research with every student and family. Our research seeks to answer the question: For which students and families is wilderness treatment most effective? We are currently conducting two studies: one with adolescents in our program, and one with young adult students. We are currently collecting research through the NATSAP Practice Research Network to understand our program’s effectiveness for our adolescent and adult students.
Empirical Research: Much More than Satisfaction Surveys
Most programs conduct satisfaction surveys with their students and families at the end of treatment. Satisfaction is an important measure for customer service, but not for determining if the program is effective. Open Sky employs empirically validated research instruments to measure the success of our program, and the results prove that it works.
Our study is a longitudinal one-group design, following every student and family for one year after graduation. We ask students and parents to complete three questionnaires four times: at arrival, graduation, 6 months after graduation, and 12 months after graduation. With these data points, we can gain an understanding of our students’ progress and our program’s effectiveness over time.
Students and parents are asked to complete three questionnaires:
- Outcome Questionnaire Family of Instruments (Burlingame et al., 2005)
- Youth Outcome Questionnaire 2.0 SR(Wells, Burlingame & Lambert, 1996). (adolescents)
This 64-item youth self-report survey is designed to gauge general mental health and functioning. - Youth Outcome Questionnaire 2.01(Wells, Burlingame & Lambert, 1996). (parents of adolescents)
This 64-item parent report survey is designed to gauge youth mental health and functioning from a parent perspective. - Outcome Questionnaire 45.2 (Wells, Burlingame & Lambert, 1996). (young adults)
This 45-item youth self-report survey is designed to gauge general mental health and functioning.
- Youth Outcome Questionnaire 2.0 SR(Wells, Burlingame & Lambert, 1996). (adolescents)
- Family Assessment Device – FAD-GF (Epstein, Baldwin & Bishop, 1983).
This 12-item survey assesses the general functioning of the family system. It is comprised of scales analyzing problem solving, communication, roles, affective responsiveness, and affective involvement.
- NATSAP Questionnaire (NATSAP Practice Research Network, 2007).
This is a short questionnaire gathering basic information to understand our clients’ history and demographic.
Open Sky Research Outcomes
Using the Youth Outcome Questionnaire (Y-OQ), an empirically validated instrument designed to indicate change while in treatment, our adolescent students show statistically significant improvements from arrival to departure on every subscale of the instrument: Intrapersonal Distress, Interpersonal Relations, Behavioral Dysfunction, Somatic Symptoms, Critical Items, and Social Problems.
On this instrument (where lower scores equal less mental health distress), a clinically significant drop is 13 points. Our research results show that parents perceive their child at an average score of 97 upon arrival and an average score of 35 at graduation. Open Sky students drop an average of 60 points during their stay!