| dc.description.abstract | Adolescent conduct problems exact serious social as well as personal cost. One of the most effective programs for the treatment of serious conduct problems in adolescents is multi-systemic therapy (MST). However, much remains unknown about the conditions under which MST is most effective. This study examined potential moderators of treatment outcomes in MST. One hundred and sixty-four participants from the Weiss, Han, Catron, Harris, Ngo & Caron (2009) data set were used to identify moderators of MST treatment effects. Analyses identified a number of significant moderators, including child age and child race, with older children and Euro-American children benefiting more from MST. Adolescents from better functioning families also gained more from MST, with 9 out of 10 significant moderators related to family or parent functioning supporting this idea. Implications suggest that MST therapists should (a) focus additional attention on cultural factors and (b) consider preparing families more for therapy as MST may not be sufficiently successfully targeting low functioning families. Future studies should (a) examine additional moderator effects, such as the marital / adult partner relationships, and (b) include potential mediators of moderator effects, such as perceived racial discrimination, to determine if such factor underlie observed moderators’ effects. | |
