Practitioner Review: Effective ingredients of prevention programs for youth at risk of persistent juvenile delinquency - recommendations for clinical practice

Background There is a lack of knowledge about specific effective ingredients of prevention programs for youth at risk for persistent delinquent behavior. The present study combines findings of previous studies by examining the effectiveness of programs in preventing persistent juvenile delinquency and by studying which particular program, sample, and study characteristics contribute to the effects. Information on effective ingredients offers specific indications of how programs may be improved in clinical practice. Method A literature search in PsychINFO, ERIC, PubMed, Sociological s, Criminal Justice s, and Google Scholar was performed. Only (quasi)experimental studies and studies that focused on adolescents at risk for (persistent) delinquent behavior were included. Multilevel meta‐analysis was conducted on 39 studies (N = 9,084). Participants’ ages ranged from 6 to 20 years (M = 14 years, SD = 2.45). Results The overall effect size was significant and small in magnitude (d = 0.24, p