Volume 29, Issue 3 p. 233-243
Original Article

Measuring the restrictiveness of Portuguese residential care for children and youth

Mary Elizabeth Rauktis

Corresponding Author

Mary Elizabeth Rauktis

Department of Social Work, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Mary Elizabeth Rauktis, Department of Social Work, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

E-mail: mar104@pitt.edu

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Margarida Rangel Henriques

Margarida Rangel Henriques

Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

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Maria Acciaiuoli Barbosa-Ducharne

Maria Acciaiuoli Barbosa-Ducharne

Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

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Orlanda Cruz

Orlanda Cruz

Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

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Marina S. Lemos

Marina S. Lemos

Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

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Julia Lee

Julia Lee

Department of Social Work, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

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First published: 24 July 2019
Citations: 1

Abstract

Restriction of living environment refers to limits, rules, and structures in place in an out-of-home residential placement for children/youth. This article describes the process of revising a measure of out-of-home living restrictiveness to be culturally congruent for Portugal, providing preliminary data on validity and reliability, and discusses the feasibility of using this measure in Portugal. The findings suggest that the Portuguese language version has acceptable reliability. The interviewers identified several additional content areas to increase coverage of the construct. Additional validity analyses are needed, but the preliminary findings suggest that measuring the restriction of living environment could provide a concise youth-informed perspective of living environment not currently being obtained in Portugal.

Key Practitioner Message: • Measuring restriction of living environment is crucial to understanding the milieu of the residential home.

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