Callous–Unemotional Traits and Response to Functional Family Therapy in Adolescent Offenders. (21st November 2012)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: White, Stuart F.; Frick, Paul J.; Lawing, Kathryn; Bauer, Daliah
• Is Part Of: Behavioral sciences & the law. Volume 31:Number 2(2013:Mar./Apr.)
• Page Start: 271
• Page End: 285
• Publication Date: 2012-11-21
• Subjects: Mental health laws -- United States -- Periodicals; Psychology, Forensic -- Periodicals; 347.3044405
• DOI: 10.1002/bsl.2041
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0735-3936

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main"> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <sec id="bsl2041-sec-0001" sec-type="section"> <title>OBJECTIVE</title> <p>The current study examined whether callous–unemotional (CU) traits moderated the effectiveness of Functional Family Therapy for juvenile justice involved adolescents.</p> </sec> <sec id="bsl2041-sec-0002" sec-type="section"> <title>METHOD</title> <p>Participants were all youths (<italic>n</italic> = 134) who had been arrested and participated in an FFT program provided in a community mental health center over a 20‐month period (mean age 15.34, 71.6% males, 59% African‐American). Parent and self‐report ratings of emotional, behavioral, and social functioning, multi‐informant ratings of treatment progress, and probation/arrest records were used as outcome indicators.</p> </sec> <sec id="bsl2041-sec-0003" sec-type="section"> <title>RESULTS</title> <p>CU traits were associated with poorer behavioral, emotional, and social adjustment prior to treatment but they were also associated with greater improvements in adjustment over the course of treatment. CU traits were not associated with significantly lower rates of participation or higher rates of treatment dropout, and the association between CU traits and risk for violent charges decreased after treatment at 6‐ and 12‐month follow‐ups. However, CU traits were still correlated with poorer levels of adjustment post‐treatment, less perceived change over treatment by youth and their parents, and increased likelihood of violent offending during treatment.</p> </sec> <sec id="bsl2041-sec-0004" sec-type="section"> <title>CONCLUSIONS</title> <p>The results of this study indicate that FFT can lead to improvements in youth with CU traits; however, they enter treatment with a greater number of symptoms and are at higher risk for committing violence during treatment than other youth. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.</p> </sec> </abstract>