More
than 20 years ago, Charles Borduin, a University of Missouri
researcher, developed a treatment for juvenile offenders that has
become one of the most widely used evidence-based treatments in the
world. Now, he has found that the treatment continues to have
positive effects on former participants more than 20 years after
treatment.

Throughout
the course of his career, Borduin, professor of psychological
sciences in the College of Arts
Science, has pioneered the treatment called Multisystemic
Therapy (MST) as a way to prevent serious mental health problems in
children and adolescents. MST interventions involve the offender’s
entire family and community, as opposed to the more common
individual therapy, where the offender visits a therapist who
offers feedback, support and encouragement for behavior
change.

Borduin
followed up with clinical trial participants that completed
treatment nearly 22 years earlier, on average. He found the
following differences between participants who received MST and
those who received individualized therapy:

• Violent
  felonies: Since
  completing treatment, 4.3 percent of juveniles treated with MST
  were arrested for a violent felony, compared to 15.5 percent of
  individual therapy participants.
• All
  felonies: Overall,
  34.8 percent of MST participants committed a felony, compared to
  54.8 percent of individual therapy participants.
• Misdemeanors:
  MST
  participants committed five times fewer misdemeanors than
  individual therapy participants.
• Family
  problems: Individual
  therapy participants were involved in family-related civil suits
  two times more often than MST participants.

“This
research shows that Multisystemic Therapy has long-lasting
effects,” said Borduin. “Nearly 22 years after treatment, juvenile
offenders treated with MST still see positive effects. This
treatment has protected many potential victims, and I hope this
research helps to encourage further use of the method.”

MST
is used in 12 countries around the world, as well as in 34 states.
In Norway, it is the national model for juvenile offender
treatment. Borduin said MST is the most widely used evidence-based
treatment for juvenile offenders in the U.S.; however, only 1 to 2
percent of juvenile offenders receive the treatment.

The
study follows an original clinical trial that took place between
1983 and 1986. In the original trial, the 176 children who
participated in the study were randomly selected for treatment with
MST or individual therapy.  For this study, Borduin located records
for more than 80 percent of participants. On average, the follow-up
occurred 21.9 years following the conclusion of treatment. Borduin
said this is one of the longest post-treatment period follow-ups
ever done for a psychological evidence-based treatment of any
disorder.

In
a previous study, Borduin found that the net cumulative benefit of
providing MST to a single juvenile offender resulted in a savings
to taxpayers and crime victims of $75,110 to $199,374 over nearly
14 years. Borduin now plans to study savings over the course of
almost 22 years following treatment.Borduin’s findings were
recently published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical
Psychology. He collaborated with Aaron Sawyer, a graduate
student in the Department
of Psychological Sciences.