Randomized Trial of Family Therapy versus Nonfamily Treatment for Adolescent Behavior Problems in Usual Care

• In Event: Learning Effective Approaches to Intervention: Examining the Impact of Behavioral Health Interventions on Adolescent Conduct Problems

Abstract

This paper will describe study findings in relation to the main study hypotheses. These findings are based on the 205 adolescents who were enrolled in the study and were followed for a year. Of these youth, 63% were enrolled for primary conduct problems and 37% for primary substance use problems. Clients were randomly assigned to either usual care family therapy (UC-FT) or non-family treatment (UC-Other). Implementation data confirmed that UC-FT showed adherence to the family therapy approach and differentiation from UC-Other. Follow-ups with adolescents and their primary caregivers were completed at 3, 6, and 12 months post-baseline. There was no between-group difference in treatment attendance. Both conditions demonstrated improvements in externalizing, internalizing, and delinquency symptoms. However, UC-FT produced greater reductions in youth-reported externalizing and internalizing among the whole sample, in delinquency among substance-using youth, and in alcohol and drug use among substance-using youth. The degree to which UC-FT outperformed UC-Other was consistent with effect sizes from controlled trials of manualized family therapy models. These findings suggest that non-manualized family therapy can be effective for adolescent behavior problems within diverse populations in usual care, and it may be superior to nonfamily alternatives.

Authors

• Molly Mary Bobek, The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse

• Aaron T. Hogue, The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse

• Sarah Mary Dauber, The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse