Citation

Butler S, Baruch G, Hickey N, Fonagy P. J. Am. Acad. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry 2011; 50(12): 1220-1235.e2.

Affiliation

University College, London.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, Publisher Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1016/j.jaac.2011.09.017

PMID

22115143

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether Multisystemic Therapy (MST) is more effective in reducing youth offending and out-of-home placement in a large, ethnically diverse, urban U.K. sample than an equally comprehensive management protocol; and to determine whether MST leads to broader improvements in youth sociality and in mediators believed to be responsible for change in MST. METHOD: 108 families were randomized to either MST (n=56) or the comprehensive and targeted usual services delivered by youth offending teams (YOT, n = 52). RESULTS: Although young people receiving both MST and YOT interventions showed improvement in terms of reduced offending, the MST model of service-delivery reduced significantly further the likelihood of nonviolent offending during an 18-month follow-up period. Consistent with offending data, the results of youth-reported delinquency and parental reports of aggressive and delinquent behaviors show significantly greater reductions from pre-treatment to post-treatment levels in the MST group. In this study MST was observed to have some delayed impact on offending, the nature and causes of which will require further study. CONCLUSIONS: The superiority of the MST condition in reducing offending and antisocial behavior suggests that MST adds value to current U.K. statutory evidence-based youth services. The provision of MST does not supplant existing services but is best used to facilitate the appropriate and cost-effective organization of statutory services for young persons and their families.

Language: en