Blueprints in Sweden. Symptom load in Swedish adolescents in studies of Functional Family Therapy (FFT), Multisystemic Therapy (MST) and Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC).
The purpose of the present study was to compare symptom load in youth groups treated with three Swedish Blueprint programmes - Functional Family Therapy (FFT), Multisystemic Therapy (MST) and Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC) - to see if symptom load matches the intensity of the treatment model as expected. These youth groups were also compared with in- and outpatients from child and adolescent psychiatry, and a normal comparison group. In addition, we compared the symptom load of their mothers. Symptom load was measured by the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA) in the adolescents, and by the Symptom Checklist 90 in their mothers. The results showed that youth in the MST and MTFC studies had a higher symptom load than in the FFT study, and the same pattern of results was found in their mothers. It is concluded that there seems to be a reasonable correspondence between the offered resources and the symptom load among youth and parents; treatment methods with higher intensity have been offered to youth with higher symptom load. The correlation between internalized and externalized symptoms was high in all study groups. The MST and MTFC groups had an equally high total symptom load as the psychiatric inpatient sample.
Gustle
Lars-Henry
LH
Department of Psychology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden. larshenry.gustle@soch.lu.se
Hansson
Kjell
K
Sundell
Knut
K
Lundh
Lars-Gunnar
LG
Löfholm
Cecilia Andrée
CA
D000293:Adolescent; D000987:Antisocial Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005196:Family Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005581:Foster Home Care; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013548:Sweden