Measuring the Restrictiveness of Living Environments for Children and Youth

Abstract

The Restrictiveness of Living Environment Scale has long been the primary way to conceptualize the “restrictiveness” of a child’s living situation. However, changes in systems of care and other factors have created a need to revisit how restrictiveness is conceptualized and measured. A measure was created to assess an environment’s level of restrictiveness and form the basis for empirically created general environment types. The measure was refined using expert review, cognitive interviewing, and pilot testing. Over 1,000 child organizations and older youth were invited to participate, with responses completed for 446 youth. The sample was reduced to 313 because of a large response from one setting. Cluster analysis produced a four-cluster solution suggesting low, moderate, elevated, and high restrictiveness for a simplified general environment typology. The data also suggest overlap among clusters and that settings with the same names can vary. Limitations are described, and plans for how the measure will be further developed are outlined.