title: A randomized clinical trial of family therapy in juvenile drug court.
abstract: The objective of this article is to examine the effectiveness of 2 theoretically different treatments delivered in juvenile drug court--family therapy represented by multidimensional family therapy (MDFT) and group-based treatment represented by adolescent group therapy (AGT)--on offending and substance use. Intent-to-treat sample included 112 youth enrolled in juvenile drug court (primarily male [88%], and Hispanic [59%] or African American [35%]), average age 16.1 years, randomly assigned to either family therapy (n = 55) or group therapy (n = 57). Participants were assessed at baseline and 6, 12, 18 and 24 months following baseline. During the drug court phase, youth in both treatments showed significant reduction in delinquency (average d = .51), externalizing symptoms (average d = 2.32), rearrests (average d = 1.22), and substance use (average d = 4.42). During the 24-month follow-up, family therapy evidenced greater maintenance of treatment gains than group-based treatment for externalizing symptoms (d = 0.39), commission of serious crimes (d = .38), and felony arrests (d = .96). There was no significant difference between the treatments with respect to substance use or misdemeanor arrests. The results suggest that family therapy enhances juvenile drug court outcomes beyond what can be achieved with a nonfamily based treatment, especially with respect to what is arguably the primary objective of juvenile drug courts: reducing criminal behavior and rearrests. More research is needed on the effectiveness of juvenile drug courts generally and on whether treatment type and family involvement influence outcomes.
  Clinical Trials.gov, Identified NCT01668303.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences.
authors.forename: Gayle A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Dakof
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Sam Houston State University.
authors.forename: Craig E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Henderson
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences.
authors.forename: Cynthia L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Rowe
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences.
authors.forename: Maya
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Boustani
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Family Studies, Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, University of South Florida.
authors.forename: Paul E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Greenbaum
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, College of Public Health, University of South Florida.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Sam Houston State University.
authors.forename: Samuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hawes
authors.affiliation: Juvenile Drug Court, State of Florida 11th Judicial Circuit Juvenile Court.
authors.forename: Clarisa
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Linares
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences.
authors.forename: Howard A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Liddle
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D003415:Crime / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D057237:Criminals / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005196:Family Therapy / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005431:Florida; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D011615:Psychotherapy, Group / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000379:methods*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome