Comprehensive treatment for co-occurring child maltreatment and parental substance abuse: Outcomes from a 24-month pilot study of the MST-Building Stronger Families program

Abstract This manuscript presents outcomes from a pilot study of Multisystemic Therapy-Building Stronger Families (MST-BSF), an integrated treatment model for the co-occurring problem of parental substance abuse and child maltreatment among families involved in the child welfare system. Participants were 25 mother-youth dyads who participated in MST-BSF and an additional 18 families with similar demographic and case characteristics who received Comprehensive Community Treatment (CCT). At post-treatment, mothers who received MST-BSF showed significant reductions in alcohol use, drug use, and depressive symptoms; they also significantly reduced their use of psychological aggression with the youth. Youth reported significantly fewer anxiety symptoms following MST-BSF treatment. Relative to families who received CCT, mothers who received MST-BSF were three times less likely to have another substantiated incident of maltreatment over a follow-up period of 24 months post-referral. The overall number of substantiated reabuse incidents in this time frame also was significantly lower among MST-BSF families, and youth who received MST-BSF spent significantly fewer days in out-of-home placements than did their CCT counterparts. These promising preliminary outcomes support the viability of a more rigorous (i.e., randomized) evaluation of the MST-BSF model.