EVIDENCE FOR BSFT™

BSFT™ Support

BSFT™ is cited or supported by respected scholars, governmental agencies, advocacy and research organizations. Click on links to learn more:

• National Registry of Evidence-based Programs (NREPP): This registry of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) reviews BSFT™ as a Model Program.
• U.S. Office of Juvenile Delinquency Prevention: BSFT™ is endorsed as an OJJDP Model Program, with an Effective Rating.
• National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA): The fifth treatment manual in a series describes Brief Strategic Family Therapy™ (BSFT™) as a short-term intervention strategy for treating adolescent drug abusers.
• Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP): BSFT™ receives award for "best practice" family strengthening programs from CSAP, part of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
• Indian Health Service: BSFT™ is selected as a “Best Practices” by the federal health program for American Indians and Alaska Natives (part of the U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services).
• Blueprints for Violence Prevention: The University of Colorado Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence selected BSFT™ as a “promising program” from a review of over 600 violence prevention programs.

Note: Current BSFT™ scope of work, deliverables and pricing may vary from the above reviews. Please contact the BSFT™ Institute at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or 305-243-7585.

Outcomes

Research indicates that in comparison with control groups, BSFT™ provides more engagement in therapy, reduction in conduct problems, reduction in socialized aggression, reduction in substance use, and better family functioning. For a review of the research, please visit the National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP), a service of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) at NREPP. More studies are underway.

• More Engagement in Therapy: In one study, families who received BSFT™ were significantly more engaged in therapy than families in the comparison groups, who received standard family therapy or standard group therapy (p < .006). Two other studies resulted in similar findings, with families receiving BSFT™ being significantly more engaged in therapy than control families receiving individual and family therapy (p < .05) and control families receiving standard family therapy (p < .0001), respectively.


• Reduction in Conduct Problems: In one study, adolescents who participated in BSFT™ showed a significantly greater reduction in conduct problems than adolescents in the comparison condition, who received a participatory-learning group intervention (p < .01). In another study, adolescents receiving BSFT™ showed a significant reduction in conduct problems (p < .001).


• Reduction in Socialized Aggression (Delinquency in the Company of Peers): In one study, adolescents who participated in BSFT™ showed a significantly greater reduction in socialized aggression than adolescents in the comparison condition, who received a participatory-learning group intervention (p < .01). In another study, adolescents receiving BSFT™ showed a significant reduction in socialized aggression (p < .001).


• Reduction in Substance Use: In one study, adolescents who participated in BSFT™ showed significantly greater reductions in marijuana use than adolescents in the comparison group, who received a participatory-learning group intervention (p < .05). In another study, adolescents receiving BSFT™ showed a significant reduction in overall substance use (p < .05). In a third study, adolescent girls who participated in BSFT™ showed significantly greater reductions in substance use at posttest (p < .001) and at the 1-year follow-up (p < .05) than adolescent girls in the comparison group, who received an intervention consisting of structural, detailed question sessions.


• Better Family Functioning: In one study, adolescents who participated in BSFT™ reported significantly better family functioning on the FES Cohesion scale than adolescents in the comparison group, who received a participatory-learning group intervention (p < .05). Families in the BSFT™ group also showed significantly greater improvement on overall SFSR scores than families in the comparison group (p < .05). In another study, reports by both parents and adolescents who received BSFT™ showed significant improvements in family functioning on the General Scale of the Family Assessment Measure (p < .001 for both parents and adolescents). The effect sizes were medium for the parent report (Cohen's d = 0.58) and small for the adolescent report (Cohen's d = 0.42). In a third study, families receiving BSFT™ demonstrated significantly better family functioning on the SFSR at the 1-year follow-up than families assigned to either an individual psychodynamic child therapy group or a recreational control condition (p < .02).

Austin, Macgowan, and Wagner (2005) conducted a rigorous evaluation of family-based interventions for adolescent substance abuse populations. The purpose of the systematic review was to examine the level of efficacy and effectiveness of the most current family-based treatment approaches. Austin and his colleagues found that Brief Strategic Family Therapy® (BSFT™) and Multidimensional FamilyTherapy are the most effective among the family-based interventions, meeting the criteria for probably efficacious according to the criteria developed by Chambless and Hollon (1998).

BSFT™ Effectiveness

Finally, the following charts illustrate the effectiveness of BSFT™ regarding different outcomes:

BSFT™ Engagement versus Engagement as Usual
(Szapocznik et al., 1988)





Engaging Difficult Youth & Family Members: Usual vs. Participation Enhanced Strategies
(Santisteban et al., 1993)



 

BSFT™ versus Group Counseling
(Santisteban et al., 2001)





BSFT™ vs. Group for Adolescent Drug Users
(Santisteban et al., 2003)