Adolescent sexual offenders present serious clinical problems that have led to expensive (and untested) interventions from mental health and juvenile justice authoritics. Based on the extant literature, we argue that the predominant (i.e., restrictive) interventions for adolescent sexual offenders are not well matched with the developmental needs of these youths; and, consequently, these interventions are not likely to be more effective than community-based alternatives. Moreover, we suggest that effective services will (a) have the capacity to address multiple risk factors; (b) be individualized; (c) overcome barriers to service access; (d) include strong quality assurance mechanisms; (e) focus on building the capacities of the environmental systems, especially the family, surrounding the youth; and (f) promote community safety. To test these contentions, this application proposes an effectiveness study comparing adolescent sex offenders treated with multisystemic therapy (MST; Henggeler, Schoenwald, Borduin, Rowland, & Cunningham, 1998) versus adolescents treated with usual juvenile justice and mental health services, In a randomized design, 160 juvenile sex offenders will be assigned to MST (N = 80) vs. Usual Services (US; N = 80) treatment conditions. A multimethod, multirespondent assessment battery will be used to examine key outcomes pertaining to clinical (e.g., criminal behavior, symptomatology ) and service (e.g., service utilization, cost effectiveness) outcomes. Assessments will be conducted at 6-month intervals through a 2-year post referral follow-up, with monthly tracking of service utilization and treatment adherence.
The specific aims of the study are:
Aim 1. To evaluate treatment effects on youth criminal activity, mental health functioning, and alcohol and drug use,"""""""" as well as on family relations, peer relations, and school attendance.
Aim 2. To track adolescent juvenile justice involvement, mental health and substance abuse service utilization, and out-of-home placements and their associated costs across the treatment conditions for 24 months post recruitment.
Aim 3. Assuming favorable MST treatment effects, to examine the possible moderators (e.g., race, sexual offender subtype) and mediators (e.g., improved family relations) of such effects.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
3R01MH065414-02S1
Application #
6927775
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZMH1)
Program Officer
Vitiello, Benedetto
Project Start
2003-03-14
Project End
2008-02-29
Budget Start
2004-03-01
Budget End
2005-02-28
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2004
Total Cost
$60,294
Indirect Cost
Name
Medical University of South Carolina
Department
Psychiatry
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
183710748
City
Charleston
State
SC
Country
United States
Zip Code
29425
Letourneau, Elizabeth J; Henggeler, Scott W; McCart, Michael R et al. (2013) Two-year follow-up of a randomized effectiveness trial evaluating MST for juveniles who sexually offend. J Fam Psychol 27:978-85
Fanniff, Amanda M; Letourneau, Elizabeth J (2012) Another piece of the puzzle: psychometric properties of the J-SOAP-II. Sex Abuse 24:378-408
Letourneau, Elizabeth J; Henggeler, Scott W; Borduin, Charles M et al. (2009) Multisystemic therapy for juvenile sexual offenders: 1-year results from a randomized effectiveness trial. J Fam Psychol 23:89-102
Henggeler, Scott W; Letourneau, Elizabeth J; Chapman, Jason E et al. (2009) Mediators of change for multisystemic therapy with juvenile sexual offenders. J Consult Clin Psychol 77:451-62
Letourneau, Elizabeth J; Borduin, Charles M (2008) The Effective Treatment of Juveniles Who Sexually Offend: An Ethical Imperative. Ethics Behav 18:286-306
Letourneau, Elizabeth J; Chapman, Jason E; Schoenwald, Sonja K (2008) Treatment outcome and criminal offending by youth with sexual behavior problems. Child Maltreat 13:133-44
Saldana, Lisa; Chapman, Jason E; Henggeler, Scott W et al. (2007) The Organizational Readiness for Change scale in adolescent programs: Criterion validity. J Subst Abuse Treat 33:159-69
Henggeler, Scott W (2004) Decreasing effect sizes for effectiveness studies- implications for the transport of evidence-based treatments: comment on curtis, ronan, and borduin (2004). J Fam Psychol 18:420-3