Research Review: The effectiveness of multidimensional family therapy in treating adolescents with multiple behavior problems – a meta‐analysis

Background Multidimensional family therapy (MDFT) is a well‐established treatment for adolescents showing both substance abuse and/or antisocial behavior. Method The effectiveness of MDFT in reducing adolescents’ substance abuse, delinquency, externalizing and internalizing psychopathology, and family malfunctioning was examined by means of a (three‐level) meta‐analysis, summarizing 61 effect sizes from 19 manuscripts (N = 1,488 participants). Results Compared with other therapies, the overall effect size of MDFT was significant, albeit small in magnitude (d = 0.24, p