Alex R. Dopp

Long-term effects of prevention and treatment on youth antisocial behavior: A meta-analysis.

Youth antisocial behavior exacts a tremendous toll on society and often persists into adulthood. Although researchers have identified a number of psychosocial interventions that prevent or reduce youth antisocial behavior in the short term, evidence of long-term intervention benefits has only recently become available. In addition, research on such interventions spans two substantial but largely separate bodies of literature: prevention and therapy. The present study used meta-analysis to integrate research on the long-term effects of preventive and therapeutic interventions for youth antisocial behavior and examined potential moderators of these effects. Results from 66 intervention trials (i.e., 34 prevention, 32 therapy) indicated that a broad range of youth psychosocial interventions demonstrated modest effects on antisocial behavior (mean d=0.31, 95% confidence interval=0.23-0.39) for at least one year beyond the end of interventions relative to control conditions. Among other findings, moderator analyses revealed that inclusion of a peer group intervention component was associated with reduced intervention effects for samples consisting predominantly of boys or older youths. The results of this study have important implications for service providers, administrators, and policymakers involved in the implementation of preventive and therapeutic interventions targeting youth antisocial behavior.

Economic impact of multisystemic therapy with juvenile sexual offenders.

This study investigated the economics of multisystemic therapy for problem sexual behaviors (MST-PSB), a family-based treatment that has shown promise with juvenile sexual offenders. We evaluated the cost and benefits of MST-PSB versus usual community services using arrest data obtained in an 8.9-year follow-up from a randomized clinical trial with 48 juvenile sexual offenders, who averaged 22.9 years of age at follow-up (Borduin, Schaeffer, & Heiblum, 2009). The net benefit of MST-PSB over usual community services was calculated in terms of (a) the value to taxpayers, which was based on measures of criminal justice system expenses (e.g., police and sheriffs offices, court processing, community supervision); and (b) the value to crime victims, which was based on measures of both tangible (e.g., property damage and loss, health care, lost productivity) and intangible (e.g., pain, suffering, reduced quality of life) losses. Lower rates of posttreatment arrests in the MST-PSB versus usual community services conditions were associated with lasting reductions in expenses for both taxpayers and crime victims, with an estimated total benefit of

Evidence-based treatments for juvenile sexual offenders: review and recommendations

343,455 per MST-PSB participant. Stated differently, every dollar spent on MST-PSB recovered

Family-based treatments for serious juvenile offenders : a multilevel meta-analysis

48.81 in savings to taxpayers and crime victims over the 8.9-year follow-up. These findings demonstrate that a family-based treatment such as MST-PSB can produce lasting economic benefits with juvenile sexual offenders. Policymakers and public service agencies should consider these findings when making decisions about interventions for this challenging clinical population.

Evidence-Based Treatments for Youths Who Engage in Illegal Sexual Behaviors

Purpose – Effective treatments for juvenile sexual offenders are needed to reduce the societal impact of sexual crimes. The purpose of this paper is to review the empirical literature on treatments for this clinical population. Design/methodology/approach – The authors searched PsycInfo and MEDLINE (via PubMed) for studies that evaluated outcomes of treatments with juvenile sexual offenders. Findings – There are a small but growing number of treatment studies (n=10) with juvenile sexual offenders, and all of these studies evaluated cognitive-behavioral therapy or multisystemic therapy for problem sexual behaviors. The results of these studies are promising, although conclusions about treatment effectiveness have been frequently limited by methodological problems. Originality/value – The authors provide recommendations for treatment providers and policymakers to consider in their decisions about interventions for juvenile sexual offenders. Furthermore, the authors offer suggestions for researchers who seek...

Community-based implementation of trauma-focused interventions for youth: Economic impact of the learning collaborative model.

Objective: Researchers have identified several family-based treatments that hold considerable promise in reducing serious juvenile offending; however, these treatments remain underutilized by youth service systems. In the present study, we used meta-analysis to summarize the findings of research on family-based treatments for serious juvenile offenders. Method: We conducted a multilevel meta-analysis that modeled dependencies between multiple effect sizes from the same study. The meta-analysis synthesized 324 effect sizes from 28 studies that met inclusion criteria. Potential moderators (e.g., characteristics of samples, treatments, methods, and measures) were entered as fixed effects in the meta-analytic model. Results: Across studies, family-based treatments produced modest, yet long-lasting, treatment effects (mean d = 0.25 for antisocial behavior, 0.24 overall) relative to comparison conditions. Furthermore, certain characteristics moderated the magnitude of treatment effects; for example, measures of substance use showed the largest effects and measures of peer relationships showed the smallest effects. Conclusions: Policymakers, administrators, and treatment providers may find it useful to consider the effects of family-based treatments for serious juvenile offenders in their selection of treatments for this population. In addition, investigators who seek to develop and study such treatments may wish to consider the current findings in their future research efforts.

Effects of multisystemic therapy on caregivers of serious juvenile offenders: A 20-year follow-up to a randomized clinical trial.

Effective treatments for youths who have engaged in illegal sexual behaviors are needed to reduce the societal impact of sexual crimes. This article reviews the state of the evidence base for treatments that target this clinical population. We conducted a comprehensive literature review to identify studies that evaluated outcomes of treatments for youths who have engaged in illegal sexual behaviors. Based on the results of our review, we characterized each treatment using established criteria for five evidence-based treatment classifications. We identified 10 treatment studies that met inclusion criteria. We classified one treatment—multisystemic therapy for problem sexual behaviors—as Probably Efficacious (Level 2), and two treatments—cognitive-behavioral therapy and behavior management through adventure—as Experimental (Level 4). Cognitive-behavioral therapy has limited research support with youths who have engaged in illegal sexual behaviors, but it is widely used in the United States and Canada. In contrast, multisystemic therapy for problem sexual behaviors had the highest level of research support but is used much less extensively with this population. We discuss implications of the present findings for treatment providers, policymakers, and researchers who seek to improve clinical services in this area.

Multisystemic therapy reduces re-offending in young offenders between 12 and 18 months post-treatment.

This study investigated the economics of the learning collaborative (LC) model in the implementation of Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), an evidence-based intervention for traumatic stress in youth. We evaluated the cost-effectiveness of the LC model based on data from 13 LCs completed in the southeastern United States. Specifically, we calculated cost-effectiveness ratios (CERs) for 2 key service outcomes: (a) clinician TF-CBT competence, based on pre- and post-LC self-ratings (n = 574); and (b) trauma-related mental health symptoms (i.e., traumatic stress and depression), self- and caregiver-reported, for youth who received TF-CBT (n = 1,410). CERs represented the cost of achieving 1 standard unit of change on a measure (i.e., d = 1.0). The results indicated that (a) costs of

Economic Impact of Multisystemic Therapy for Child Abuse and Neglect

18,679 per clinician were associated with each unit increase in TF-CBT competency and (b) costs from

Long-term economic benefits of psychological interventions for criminality: Comparing and integrating estimation methods.

5,318 to