Adolescents’ Willingness to Attend Sessions During Mental Health Counseling Treatment and Their Ratings of the Service Quality

BackgroundCollecting clients experiences of service quality has become routine for mental health services. Young people value the relational aspects of care and the usefulness of treatment, but often encounter mental health services on the initiative of others, suggesting that they may experience low volition about commencing treatment.MethodsUsing a repeated within-subjects design, adolescents' volition in attending sessions was examined in relation to session-climate and usefulness of sessions. Data were collected at the beginning and end of treatment from 66 adolescents attending a social service facility because of mental health problems.ResultsAdolescents reporting high volition at both time points (54%) perceived the session-climate and usefulness of sessions more positively compared to those experiencing low volition at both time points (26%). Adolescents changing from high to low volition experienced a deterioration in the session-climate and did not report an improvement in how useful the sessions were. The source of referral was not related to the volition profiles. Girls were more likely than boys to experience high volition.ConclusionsThe results suggest that key factors of adolescents' service experiences interact with their level of volition. Moreover, the source of referral may not influence the adolescent's willingness to attend sessions.