COMPARISON OF MULTISYSTEMIC THERAPY AND FUNCTIONAL FAMILY THERAPY EFFECTIVENESS A Multiyear Statewide Propensity Score Matching Analysis Of Juvenile Offenders

Propensity score matching (PSM) is used to examine the effectiveness of Multisystemic Therapy compared with Functional Family Therapy (FFT) in a multiyear statewide sample of juvenile offenders. Outcomes include offenses and violations of probation during service and 12-month recidivism. Salient selection effects including delinquent peer associations, substance use, and lack of adherence to parental rules, as well as strong correlates of the outcome measures (risk assessment scores, age at first offense, most serious prior offense) and pertinent demographics, were controlled for in the PSM. Results indicate few significant differences in the effectiveness of the two modalities, with the exception that female youth receiving FFT have lower recidivism and low risk youth receiving FFT have fewer offenses/violations of probation during service provision.