Long-Term Prevention of Criminality in Siblings of Serious and Violent Juvenile Offenders: A 25-Year Follow-Up to a Randomized Clinical Trial of Multisystemic Therapy
OBJECTIVE:
Family-based
treatment models that have shown effectiveness with juvenile offenders may also
lead to reduced criminality in siblings of those offenders. However, the
lasting effects of such treatments on siblings have not been evaluated. In the
present study, the authors examined criminal outcomes for siblings of serious
and violent juvenile offenders who had participated on average 25.0 years
earlier in a clinical trial of multisystemic therapy (MST; Borduin et al.,
1995).
METHOD:
Participants
were 129 closest-in-age siblings of individuals who were originally randomized
to MST or individual therapy (IT) during adolescence. Arrest and incarceration
data were obtained in middle adulthood when siblings were on average 38.4 years
old.
RESULTS:
Intent-to-treat
analyses showed that arrest rates were significantly lower for siblings in the
MST condition than in the IT condition (43.3% vs. 72.0%, respectively). In
addition, siblings in the IT condition were about 3 times as likely to be convicted
of a felony and more than twice as likely to be sentenced to incarceration and
probation.
CONCLUSION:
The
present study represents the longest follow-up to date of sibling participants
in an MST clinical trial and demonstrates that the positive impact of an
evidence-based treatment for serious and violent juvenile offenders can extend
to other family members. Implications of the authors' findings for policymakers
and service providers are discussed.
- 1Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Missouri.
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