Hester van Eeren

| Chapter 5 5 | 90 Abstract Objective: To compare the effectiveness of Multisystemic Therapy (MST) and Functional Family Therapy (FFT) using a quasi-experimental design in the Netherlands. Method: Between October, 2009 and June, 2014, outcome data were collected from 697 adolescents assigned to either MST or FFT (422 MST; 275 FFT). Data were gathered during Routine Outcome Monitoring. The primary outcome was externalizing problem behavior (Child Behavior Checklist and Youth Self Report). Secondary outcomes were the proportion of adolescents living at home, engaged in school or work, and who lacked police contact during treatment. Because of the non-random assignment, a propensity score method was used to control for observed pre-treatment differences. Because the risk-need-responsivity (RNR) model guided treatment assignment, effectiveness was also estimated in youth with and without a court order as an indicator of their risk level. Results: In the study sample, no difference was found with regard to externalizing problems. For adolescents without a court order, effects on externalizing problems were larger from MST. Because many more adolescents with a court order were assigned to MST compared to FFT, the propensity score method could not balance the treatment groups in this subsample. Conclusions: In accordance with previous results, few differences between MST and FFT can be found in the Netherlands. Though treatment assignment was based on the RNR model, results in the group without a court order were not in accordance with this model, while higher-risk adolescents with a court order were indeed more often assigned to the more intensive treatment, namely MST.