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.
RCT Entities:
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.
Authors: Peter Fonagy; Stephen Butler; David Cottrell; Stephen Scott; Stephen Pilling; Ivan Eisler; Peter Fuggle; Abdullah Kraam; Sarah Byford; James Wason; Rachel Ellison; Elizabeth Simes; Poushali Ganguli; Elizabeth Allison; Ian M Goodyer Journal: Lancet Psychiatry Date: 2018-01-05 Impact factor: 27.083
Authors: Jackson A Goodnight; John E Bates; Amy Holtzworth-Munroe; Gregory S Pettit; Robin H Ballard; Jeannette M Iskander; Anna Swanson; Kenneth A Dodge; Jennifer E Lansford Journal: J Consult Clin Psychol Date: 2017-07-13
Authors: Kirsten C Smeets; Anouk A M Leeijen; Mariët J van der Molen; Floor E Scheepers; Jan K Buitelaar; Nanda N J Rommelse Journal: Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry Date: 2014-08-20 Impact factor: 4.785