Multisystemic Therapy

Primary Manual for Treating Serious Antisocial Behavior in Adolescents
Henggeler, S. W., Schoenwald, S. K., Borduin, C. M., Rowland, M. D., & Cunningham, P. B. (1998). Multisystemic treatment of antisocial behavior in children and adolescents. New York: Guilford Press.

[free informational download] - MST Treatment Model.
To purchase the manual, go to Guilford Press - MST Manual (Cat. #0106, 287 pages, $38.00)
For information on the development of MST programs, go to mstservices.com.

Contact Information for the Development of MST Programs
Licensed MST Programs are currently in 30 states and 9 nations.
Marshall Swenson, Vice-President
MST Services
710 J. Dodds Blvd.
Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464
Phone: (843) 856-8226
Fax: (843) 856-8227
E-mail: http://www.mstservices.com/text/links.html#contact

Target Population.
MST is a family- and community-based treatment for adolescents presenting serious antisocial behavior (e.g., violence, substance abuse) and who are at imminent risk of out-of-home placement such as incarceration.

Treatment Description.
MST is a manualized (e.g., Henggeler et al., 1998) evidence-based treatment that includes several key features. (a) A comprehensive set of identified risk factors (e.g., across individual, family, peer, school, and neighborhood domains) is targeted through individualized interventions. (b) These interventions integrate empirically-based clinical techniques (e.g., from the cognitive behavioral and behavioral therapies), which have historically focused on a limited aspect of the youth’s social ecology (e.g., individual youth, family), into a broad-based ecological framework that addresses relevant factors across family, peer, school, and community contexts. (c) Interventions focus on promoting behavioral changes in the youth’s natural ecology by empowering caregivers with skills and resources to address difficulties that will arise in raising adolescents and empowering youths to cope with family, peer, school, and neighborhood problems. (d) Therapist efforts to achieve desired clinical outcomes are supported through an intensive, sustained, and standardized quality assurance system. (e) Services are delivered via a home-based model, which facilitated high engagement and low dropout rates. The home-based approach also provides more valid assessment and outcome data from which to base clinical decisions. Therapists carried low caseloads of 4 to 5 families per clinician, which allowed intensive services to be provided to each family (2 to 15 hours per week depending upon the clinical need). Clinical services were delivered in home, school, and/or neighborhood settings at times convenient to the family. Therapists were available to respond to clinical problems 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Training Requirements and Information
MST Services is licensed through the Medical University of South Carolina for the transport of MST technology and intellectual property. See www.mstservices.com for information on program development, training, ongoing quality assurance, and outcome monitoring.

Key Outcomes from MST Randomized Trials with Substance Abusing Juvenile Offenders

• Post-treatment decreases in substance use
• Increased marijuana abstinence at 4-year follow-up
• Decreased rate of drug-related arrests at 14-year follow-up
• Increased youth attendance in regular school settings
• Decreased rates of incarceration

Key MST Substance-Related References:

Henggeler, S. W., Borduin, C. M., Melton, G. B., Mann, B. J., Smith, L., & Hall, J. A., Cone, L., & Fucci, B. R. (1991). Effects of multisystemic therapy on drug use and abuse in serious juvenile offenders: A progress report from two outcome studies. Family Dynamics of Addiction Quarterly, 1, 40-51.

Henggeler, S. W., Melton, G. B., & Smith, L. A. (1992). Family preservation using multisystemic therapy: An effective alternative to incarcerating serious juvenile offenders. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 60, 953-961.

Henggeler, S. W. (1993). Multisystemic treatment of serious juvenile offenders: Implications for the treatment of substance abusing youths. In L. S. Onken, J. D. Blaine, & J. J. Boren (Eds.), Behavioral treatments for drug abuse and dependence:  National Institute on Drug Abuse Research Monograph 137. Rockville, MD: NIH Publication No. 93-3684.

Borduin, C. M., Mann, B. J., Cone, L. T., Henggeler, S. W., Fucci, B. R., Blaske, D. M., & Williams, R. A. (1995). Multisystemic treatment of serious juvenile offenders: Long-term prevention of criminality and violence. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 63, 569-578.

Henggeler, S. W., Pickrel, S. G., Brondino, M. J., & Crouch, J. L. (1996). Eliminating (almost) treatment dropout of substance abusing or dependent delinquents through home-based multisystemic therapy. American Journal of Psychiatry, 153, 427-428.

Schoenwald, S. K., Ward, D. M., Henggeler, S. W., Pickrel, S. G., & Patel, H. (1996). MST treatment of substance abusing or dependent adolescent offenders: Costs of reducing incarceration, inpatient, and residential placement. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 5, 431-444.

Henggeler, S. W. (1997). The development of effective drug abuse services for youth. In J. A. Egertson, D. M. Fox, & A. I. Leshner (Eds.), Treating drug abusers effectively (pp. 253-279). New York: Blackwell Publishers.

Henggeler, S. W., Pickrel, S. G., & Brondino, M. J. (1999). Multisystemic treatment of substance abusing and dependent delinquents: Outcomes, treatment fidelity, and transportability.  Mental Health Services Research, 1, 171-184.

Brown, T. L., Henggeler, S. W., Schoenwald, S. K., Brondino, M. J., & Pickrel, S. G. (1999). Multisystemic treatment of substance abusing and dependent juvenile delinquents: Effects on school attendance at posttreatment and 6-month follow-up. Children’s Services: Social Policy, Research, and Practice, 2, 81-93.

Randall, J., Halliday-Boykins, C. A., Cunningham, P. B., & Henggeler, S. W. (2001). Integrating evidence-based substance abuse treatment into juvenile drug courts: Implications for outcomes.  National Drug Court Institute Review, 3, 89-115.

Henggeler, S. W., Clingempeel, W. G., Brondino, M. J., & Pickrel, S. G. (2002).  Four-year follow-up of multisystemic therapy with substance abusing and dependent juvenile offenders. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 41, 868-874.

Schaeffer, C. M., & Borduin, C. M. (in press). Long-term follow-up to a randomized clinical trial of Multisystemic Therapy with serious and violent juvenile offenders.  Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.

Henggeler, S. W., Halliday-Boykins, C. A., Cunningham, P. B., Randall, J., Shapiro, S. B., & Chapman, J. E. (2005). Juvenile drug court: Enhancing outcomes by integrating evidence-based treatments.  Manuscript submitted for publication.