Elements Programs Publishes Full Outcomes Data: 88.1% of Mothers, 78.4% of Fathers Report Reliable Improvement in Teen Mental Health After Treatment. Results show gains hold steady one year after discharge, as parent-reported clinical data becomes more widely available for families evaluating youth residential and wilderness therapy programs.
Elements Programs, a provider of wilderness-based mental health treatment, released a full analysis of parent-reported clinical outcomes across 1,608 admissions, showing that 88.1% of mothers and 78.4% of fathers reported reliable, clinically meaningful improvement in their child's overall functioning between admission and discharge — improvement that remained stable at 6-month and 1-year follow-up.
The data addresses a gap that families, researchers, and accrediting bodies have increasingly pointed to in the youth residential treatment field: a shortage of rigorous, transparent outcome measurement, rather than testimonials or marketing claims. Elements Programs said it is publishing its complete, de-identified dataset rather than a curated sample of favorable results.
"Families choosing a residential treatment program are making one of the hardest decisions they will ever face, often under time pressure and without a clear way to compare programs," said Neal Christensen, PhD, owner and head of research at Elements. "We think it's reasonable for families to expect real data, and we'd rather meet that expectation directly than wait to be asked."
How Outcomes Were Measured
Elements Programs used the Y-OQ 2.01, a validated, published clinical instrument completed by a parent or guardian at four points in time: admission, discharge, six months post-discharge, and one year post-discharge. The tool measures six subscales — anxiety/depression, somatic symptoms, relationship problems, social problems, behavioral dysfunction, and critical items — in addition to a Total Score.
Mothers (n = 764) reported average Total Scores that fell from 96.5 to 41.8 between admission and discharge, with an effect size of approximately 1.59. Fathers (n = 486) reported scores falling from 95.2 to 50.5, an effect size of approximately 1.22 — both considered "very large" by conventional research standards.
Gains Held Steady Long-Term
Comparing discharge scores to those collected six months and one year later, researchers found no statistically meaningful regression in either direction, for either parent group, across all six subscales — indicating that improvement observed at discharge was largely sustained rather than fading over time.
Transparency on Limitations
Elements Programs also disclosed limitations of the dataset: post-discharge survey responses reflect a self-selected group of families who chose to complete follow-up surveys, participation naturally declines over time, and the data reflect parent-reported perceptions rather than independent clinical assessment or youth self-report.
Learn more about our outcomes at https://elementsprograms.com/resources/research/
About Elements:
Elements is a small owner-operated outdoor behavioral health program in central Utah whose mission is to provide the most effective and engaging treatment program for adolescents in the outdoors. Since 2008, Elements has provided specialized therapeutic interventions for clients and their families by balancing evidence-based therapy with fun experiential activity. Elements is licensed and supervised by the State of Utah Department of Human Services and accredited through the Association for Experiential Education.
For inquiries or to learn more about Elements, please contact Admissions at admissions@elementsprograms.com or visit elementsprograms.com