Trial reportJournal of clinical child and adolescent psychology : the official journal for the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, American Psychological Association, Division 532015
Randomized Trial of Family Therapy Versus Nonfamily Treatment for Adolescent Behavior Problems in Usual Care.
Trial report in Journal of clinical child and adolescent psychology : the official journal for the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, American Psychological Association, Division 53, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 47 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effectiveness of Family-Involved Interventions in Reducing Co-Occurring Alcohol Use and Mental Health Problems in Young People Aged 12-17: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Pooled it
- Individual-, family-, and school-level interventions targeting multiple risk behaviours in young people.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2018Pooled it
- The Content of Usual Clinical Care for Youth with Primary Anxiety Problems.Administration and policy in mental health · 2025Trial
- Therapist adherence to family-based treatment for adolescents with anorexia nervosa: A multi-site exploratory study.European eating disorders review : the journal of the Eating Disorders Association · 2020Trial
- Perceived Need for Treatment and Engagement in Mental Health Services Among Community-Referred Racial/Ethnic Minority Adolescents.Administration and policy in mental health · 2018Trial
- Benchmarking Family Therapy for Adolescent Behavior Problems in Usual Care: Fidelity, Outcomes, and Therapist Performance Differences.Administration and policy in mental health · 2017Trial
- Therapeutic alliance and treatment outcome in the outpatient treatment of urban adolescents: The role of callous-unemotional traits.Psychotherapy (Chicago, Ill.) · 2017Trial
- Multidimensional Predictors of Treatment Outcome in Usual Care for Adolescent Conduct Problems and Substance Use.Administration and policy in mental health · 2017Trial
- Therapist self-report reliability and accuracy in individual vs. conjoint systemic family therapy sessions: implications for clinical monitoring.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Using a Single Measure To Assess Adherence and Differentiation in Family Therapy for Adolescent Externalizing Problems.Administration and policy in mental health · 2025Article
- Core Competencies in Family Therapy for Adolescent Behavior Problems: Systemic Stance and Systemic Skills.Contemporary family therapy · 2025Article
- Family Support Protocol for Adolescent Internalizing Disorders: Protocol for a Pre-Post Quantitative Treatment Development Study.JMIR research protocols · 2024Article
- Competency Guidelines for Family Collaboration in Behavioral Health Services for Adolescents.Contemporary family therapy · 2024Article
- Mechanisms of Behavior Change in Adolescent Substance Use Treatment: A Systematic Review of Treatment Mediators and Recommendations for Advancing Future Research.Clinical psychology : a publication of the Division of Clinical Psychology of the American Psychological Association · 2024Article
- Evidence Base Update of Psychosocial Treatments for Adolescents with Disruptive Behavior.Journal of clinical child and adolescent psychology : the official journal for the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, American Psychological Association, Division 53 · 2023Article
- Core Elements of Family Therapy for Adolescent Behavioral Health Problems: Validity Generalization in Community Settings.Journal of clinical child and adolescent psychology : the official journal for the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, American Psychological Association, Division 53 · 2023Article
- Caregiver Engagement in Outpatient Treatment for Adolescents in Community Settings: Construct and Predictive Validity of Family Therapy Techniques.Administration and policy in mental health · 2023Article
- Family Interventions to improve mental, emotional, and behavioral health outcomes among Latinx youth: A systematic review.Children and youth services review · 2023Article
- Online Training of Community Therapists in Observational Coding of Family Therapy Techniques: Reliability and Accuracy.Administration and policy in mental health · 2022Observational
- Family-based treatments for disruptive behavior problems in children and adolescents: An updated review of rigorous studies (2014-April 2020).Journal of marital and family therapy · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
A major focus of implementation science is discovering whether evidence-based approaches can be delivered with fidelity and potency in routine practice. This randomized trial compared usual care family therapy (UC-FT), implemented without a treatment manual or extramural support as the standard-of-care approach in a community clinic, to nonfamily treatment (UC-Other) for adolescent conduct and substance use disorders. The study recruited 205 adolescents (M age = 15.7 years; 52% male; 59% Hispanic American, 21% African American) from a community referral network, enrolling 63% for primary mental health problems and 37% for primary substance use problems. Clients were randomly assigned to either the UC-FT site or one of five UC-Other sites. Implementation data confirmed that UC-FT showed adherence to the family therapy approach and differentiation from UC-Other. Follow-ups were completed at 3, 6, and 12 months postbaseline. There was no between-group difference in treatment attendance. Both conditions demonstrated improvements in externalizing, internalizing, and delinquency symptoms. However, UC-FT produced greater reductions in youth-reported externalizing and internalizing among the whole sample, in delinquency among substance-using youth, and in alcohol and drug use among substance-using youth. The degree to which UC-FT outperformed UC-Other was consistent with effect sizes from controlled trials of manualized family therapy models. Nonmanualized family therapy can be effective for adolescent behavior problems within diverse populations in usual care, and it may be superior to nonfamily alternatives.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.