Premature Termination from Treatment among Children Referred for Antisocial Behavior

The present study examined differences between children and families who complete treatment versus those who terminated prematurely. Children (N=81, ages 7–13 years) referred to outpatient treatment for severe antisocial behavior and their families participated. It was predicted that families who te...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of child psychology and psychiatry 1990-03, Vol.31 (3), p.415-425
Main Author: Kazdin, Alan E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
antisocial children
Antisocial Personality Disorder - therapy
attrition
Behavior therapy. Cognitive therapy
Biological and medical sciences
Child
Child Behavior Disorders - therapy
Child therapy
Female
Humans
Male
Medical sciences
Parents - psychology
Patient Compliance
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Socioeconomic Factors
Stress, Psychological
termination from treatment
Treatments
Citations: Items that this one cites
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Summary:The present study examined differences between children and families who complete treatment versus those who terminated prematurely. Children (N=81, ages 7–13 years) referred to outpatient treatment for severe antisocial behavior and their families participated. It was predicted that families who terminate treatment prematurely would show greater dysfunction in four domains: child severity and breadth of antisocial behavior, maternal stress, maternal psychopathology, and socioeconomic disadvantage. The results indicated that among cases who terminate treatment prematurely children evinced more severe conduct disorder symptoms and more delinquent behaviors; mothers reported greater stress from their relations with the child, their own role functioning, and life events; and families were at greater socioeconomic disadvantage than those who remained in treatment. The implications of the present findings for the design and implementation of treatment of antisocial children and their families are discussed.
ISSN:0021-9630
1469-7610
DOI:10.1111/j.1469-7610.1990.tb01578.x