Elsevier

Child Abuse & Neglect

Volume 37, Issue 8, August 2013, Pages 596-607
Child Abuse & Neglect

Comprehensive treatment for co-occurring child maltreatment and parental substance abuse: Outcomes from a 24-month pilot study of the MST-Building Stronger Families program

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2013.04.004Get rights and content

Abstract

This manuscript presents outcomes from a pilot study of Multisystemic Therapy-Building Stronger Families (MST-BSF), an integrated treatment model for the co-occurring problem of parental substance abuse and child maltreatment among families involved in the child welfare system. Participants were 25 mother-youth dyads who participated in MST-BSF and an additional 18 families with similar demographic and case characteristics who received Comprehensive Community Treatment (CCT). At post-treatment, mothers who received MST-BSF showed significant reductions in alcohol use, drug use, and depressive symptoms; they also significantly reduced their use of psychological aggression with the youth. Youth reported significantly fewer anxiety symptoms following MST-BSF treatment. Relative to families who received CCT, mothers who received MST-BSF were three times less likely to have another substantiated incident of maltreatment over a follow-up period of 24 months post-referral. The overall number of substantiated reabuse incidents in this time frame also was significantly lower among MST-BSF families, and youth who received MST-BSF spent significantly fewer days in out-of-home placements than did their CCT counterparts. These promising preliminary outcomes support the viability of a more rigorous (i.e., randomized) evaluation of the MST-BSF model.

Section snippets

Method

This study examined families served by the New Britain Area Office of the Connecticut Department of Children and Families (DCF), the consolidated agency that has statutory responsibility for children's protective services in the state.

Participant characteristics and comparability of groups at baseline

As shown in Table 1, MST-BSF and CCT families were largely equivalent on all demographic and case background characteristics. Overall (N = 43), most mothers in the sample self-identified as being of White, Non-Hispanic racial/ethnic origin (79.1%), with 16.3% identifying as Hispanic and the remainder (4.7%) as Black, Non-Hispanic. The racial makeup of the sample was comparable to those of parents served by the New Britain DCF area office as a whole (i.e., in 2007, the caseload was 81.0% White,

Discussion

Preliminary support was provided for the effectiveness of MST-BSF in addressing the co-occurring problem of child maltreatment and parental substance abuse, one of the most significant challenges facing child welfare organizations. Mothers who received MST-BSF significantly reduced their drug and alcohol use over the course of treatment. Mothers also reported a significant reduction in depressive symptoms, moving on average from clinical to nonclinical levels on this key risk factor for child

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    This study was supported by a grant from the Annie E. Casey Foundation and by the Connecticut Department of Children and Families. The authors wish to thank Elisabeth Cannata, Tere Foley, Richard Holden, Melisa LaPila, Chris Lau, Donna Maitland-Ward, Pete Panzarella, Robert Plant, Lind Remmele, Karen Snyder, Susan Walkama, and Jeannette White, as well as Wheeler Clinic, for their support.

    1

    Cynthia Cupit Swenson is a consultant in the development of MST-CAN programs through MST Services, LLC, which has the exclusive licensing agreement through the Medical University of South Carolina for the dissemination of MST technology.

    2

    Scott W. Henggeler is a board member and stockholder in MST Services, LLC.

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