Adolescent Gender and Age Differences in Responsiveness to Functional Family Therapy

Abstract

The current study contributes to a sparse literature on moderators of Functional Family Therapy (FFT) by examining whether responsiveness to FFT, measured by a broad range of outcomes, varies by adolescent gender, age, and their interaction. This study was informed by 687 families (n, adolescents = 581; n, caregivers = 933) and utilized a prepost comparison design. Fixed-effects regressions with gender, age, and their interaction included as explanatory variables were conducted to calculate the average change in youth mental health, callous-unemotional traits, academic outcomes, substance use, and family functioning. Moderation analyses revealed that according to parent report, girls had significantly greater improvements in peer problems and family functioning, and boys benefited more in increased liking of school. There were differential effects by age, such that older youth had less beneficial mental health outcomes and a smaller decrease in frequency of hash use. The gender by age interaction was significant for adolescents' report of mental health and family functioning outcomes, which suggests that girls benefit from FFT less than boys during early adolescence, but benefit more than boys in late adolescence. This finding adds to literature which has evidenced that family functioning is particularly important for girls by suggesting that FFT is important for improving older girls' mental health and family functioning in particular. The study's results expand the examination of outcomes of FFT to include academic outcomes, and provide insight into key factors that should be considered in addressing adolescent behavioral problems and family functioning.

Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory Assessments as Predictors of Behavioral Change in Multisystemic Therapy and Functional Family Therapy in Norway

“…We do not assume that this is due to the fact that boys are particularly influenced by gender socialization in Norway. Rather we suggest, in line with prior research, that this outcome could be the result of interaction effects between youth age and youth gender, as well as interaction effects between therapist gender and youth gender (Newberry et al, 1991; Scavenius et al, 2019).…”

Efektifitas Functional Family Therapy Pada Perilaku Bermasalah dan Tingkat Residivis Remaja: A Scoping Review

“…Tahun terbaru dalam penelitian efektifitas FFT dilakukan di Skandinavia, Denmark. Dalam tahun yang sama dilakukan dua penelitian sekaligus oleh Scavenius et al (2019), Vardanian et al (2020). Keduanya membuktikan bahwa FFT memiliki efek positif dalam skala kecil hingga menengah pada kesehatan mental remaja secara keseluruhan di Skandinavia, Denmark (Scavenius et al, 2019).…”

“…Dalam tahun yang sama dilakukan dua penelitian sekaligus oleh Scavenius et al (2019), Vardanian et al (2020). Keduanya membuktikan bahwa FFT memiliki efek positif dalam skala kecil hingga menengah pada kesehatan mental remaja secara keseluruhan di Skandinavia, Denmark (Scavenius et al, 2019). Perbedaannya, penelitian oleh Vardanian et al (2020) merupakan pemeriksaan internasional terhadap efektifitas FFT dalam sampel komunitas Danish dan hasilnya mengungkapkan bahwa FFT efektif untuk menurunkan perilaku bermasalah dalam konteks Skandinavia, Denmark (Vardanian et al, 2020).…”

“…Sementara itu, populasi sasaran berkisar dari remaja dengan kasus berisiko rendah, sedang, hingga berat; seperti tindakan kepatuhan kepada orang tua (Celinska, 2015), kehadiran dan kinerja di sekolah atau bekerja (Vardanian et al, 2020), hasil akademik (Scavenius et al, 2019), masalah perilaku, gejala emosional, inatensi dan hiperaktif (Celinska, 2015;Gan et al, 2018;Graham et al, 2013;Marshall et al, 2016;Sexton & Turner, 2010;Vardanian et al, 2020), residivis pelanggaran ringan, tindakan kekerasan (Sexton & Turner, 2010), penggunaan alkohol dan penyalahgunaan zat (Baglivio et al, 2014; Firdasannah et al Functional Family Therapy Celinska, 2015), kesehatan mental (Scavenius et al, 2019), dan perilaku antisosial (Baglivio et al, 2014).…”

“…Selain itu, salah satu penemuan penelitian menyebutkan bahwa jenis kelamin juga usia menunjukkan perbedaan hasil pada FFT. Remaja perempuan mendapat manfaat dari FFT lebih rendah jika dibandingkan dengan remaja laki-laki selama masa remaja awal, tetapi sebaliknya pada masa remaja akhir remaja perempuan lebih tinggi mendapatkan manfaat FFT dibanding remaja laki-laki (Scavenius et al, 2019).…”