A Trial of Multisystemic Therapy in UK a Statutory Therapeutic Intervention for Young Offenders

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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To evaluate whether Multisystemic Therapy (MST) is more effective in reducing youth offending and out-of-home placement in a large, ethnically diverse, urban U.K. sample than an equally comprehensive management protocol; to determine whether MST leads to broader improvements in youth sociality and in mediators believed to be responsible for change in MST.

Conditions
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Participants Are Male and Female Adolescents 13-16 Years at Risk for Continuing to Commit Criminal Offences.

Intervention / Treatment
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* Other: Multisystemic therapy
* Other: YOT (usual services)


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: age between 13 and 16 years; living in the home of and being brought up by a parent or principal caretaker; on a court referral order for treatment or a supervision order of at least 3 months' duration, or, following imprisonment, on license in the community for at least 6 months. Exclusion Criteria: being a sex offender; presented only with substance misuse; diagnosed with a psychotic illness or posed a risk to trial personnel; incompatible agency involvement (e.g., ongoing care proceedings).

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 13 Years
Maximum Age: 16 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Prevention
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Multisystemic therapy<br>MST is a family- and community-based intervention that establishes close contact with families to understand and deal with the factors that cause the young person's antisocial behaviour. The intervention targets the individual's adjustment, family relationships, school functioning and peer group affiliations. Therapists help caretakers develop skills to intervene and operate changes in important domains such as young person's individual adjustment, their family relationships, school functioning, and peer group affiliations. | Other: Multisystemic therapy<br> <br> |
| Active Comparator: YOT (usual services)<br>YOT intervention consisted of services currently available to young offenders in accordance with the Youth Justice Board National Standards.These services included supporting the young person to re-engage with education, with substance misuse problems and anger management; training them in social problem-solving skills; and programs to decrease vehicle-crime, violent-offending and knife crime. The treatments were delivered by professional social workers, specialist therapists or probation officers. | Other: YOT (usual services)<br> <br> |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Change in offending behavior based on police records of criminal offenses committed | The number of records of offending behavior (count data) was obtained, and 6-month periods free of any offending behavior were also recorded (binary data). Records were obtained from the National Young Offender Information System (YOIS) database. YOIS records detail offence information, court appearances, criminal orders, police custody records, and arrest rates. | baseline and 6, 12, 18, 24, 30 and 36 months post randomization | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| self- and parent-rated symptoms of antisocial behavior, delinquency-linked cognitions, personality functioning, and parenting variables | Antisocial behavior was assessed using the Self-Report of Youth Behavior (SRYB), a brief, valid measure of the prevalence and incidence in pre-adolescent and adolescent children of delinquent behavior such as vandalism, theft, burglary, and fraud; and the delinquency and aggression subscales of the Youth Self-Report (YSR) and the parent-completed Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). | baseline and 6 months after randomization | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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multisystemic therapy, RCT, young offenders, U.K.