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Evidence summaries

Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment (Cbt) for Antisocial Behavior in Youth in Residential Treatment

Cognitive-behavioral treatment (CBT) may be a little more effective than standard treatment in reducing criminal behavior in adolescents twelve months after release from the institution. Level of evidence: "C"

A Cochrane review [Abstract] 1 included 12 studies with a total of 4 865 subjects. Five studies were RCTs and seven non-RCTs including a control group. Participants had to be young people aged 12-22 and placed in a residential setting for reasons of antisocial behavior. The results for pooled data were significant in favor of CBT compared to standard treatment (OR = 0.69, 95% CI: 0.53 to 0.90). The reduction in recidivism was about 10% on the average. There is no evidence of effects after 6 or 24 months or when CBT is compared to alternative treatments probably because the low statistical power of the review (too few participants and studies at 6 and 24 months).

Comment: The quality of evidence is downgraded by inconsistency (variability in results across studies) and by by imprecise results (few patients at 6 and 24 months follow-up).

    References

    • Armelius BA, Andreassen TH. Cognitive-behavioral treatment for antisocial behavior in youth in residential treatment. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2007 Oct 17;(4):CD005650. [PubMed]

Primary/Secondary Keywords