Adolescent Behaviour, Family Functioning
Conditions
Keywords
Multidimension Treatment Foster Care, Adolescents, Disadvantaged families, Out-of-home placement, Conduct Disorder, Family program, Denmark, Youth
Brief summary
The purpose of the study is to examine the effects of Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care compared to treatment as usual (TAU) for adolescents in Denmark in need of out-of-home placement.
Detailed description
It is difficult to treat adolescents with serious behaviour problems. Although the number of adolescents displaying serious behaviour problems is limited, they are a serious concern to the society e.g. because of their frequent violent behaviour, criminal activities and lack of school adherence. Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC)is a community-based treatment program developed in USA. The goal of the MTFC program is to decrease problem behaviour and to increase developmentally appropriate normative and prosocial behavior in adolescents who are in need of out-of-home placement. This study will evaluate the effect of MTFC on adolescents in out-of-home placement. Participants will be recruited by caseworkers in the municipalities and randomly assigned to either MTFC or TAU. TAU will consist of other kinds of out-of-home placements. Outcomes will be assessed for all participants at baseline, post-treatment (12 months), and 12 months post-treatment. Parents and youth will be asked to fill out questionnaires on e.g. behaviour, parental stress, sense of cohesion, general health.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALMultidimensional Treatment Foster Care
Out of home placement in MTFC family for 10-12 months
BEHAVIORALTreatment as usual
Other kinds of out of home placement
Sponsors
National Board of Social Services, Denmark
Ministry of Social Affairs, Denmark
VIVE - The Danish Center for Social Science Research
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
12 Years to 17 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* 12-17 years old * In need of out of home placement * serious behaviour problems
Exclusion criteria
* severe psychiatric illness in youth or parent * risk of suicide in youth * acute psychosis in youth * sexual offence by youth * severe substance abuse in youth or parent
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Strengths and difficulties questionnaire, Child Behavior Checklist | 12 months post baseline | Measuring child/youth behaviour |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Parental Stress Scale | 12 months post baseline | Measuring parental stress |
| Sense of Cohesion 13 | 12 months post baseline | Measuring stress in human functioning |
| Ladder of life | 12 months post baseline | Measuring overall quality of life |
| Major Depression Index 10 | 12 months post baseline | Measuring parent's depression symptoms |
Other
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Other outcomes | 12 months post baseline | crime (register and self-report) school truancy (register and self-report) general health including substance abuse (self-report) |
Countries
Denmark
Outcome results
None listed