Topic: Parenting, Sexual Assault, Antisocial Behavior, Academic Performance
Target Population: Adolescents, Families
Sector: Community-Based
This program is for individuals who are 10 to 18 years old and have problem sexual behavior and their families.
Multisystemic Therapy for Youth with Problem Sexual Behaviors (MST-PSB), a family- and community-based treatment, is designed to decrease participant’s sexual criminal activity and other antisocial behaviors by addressing key risk factors in a youth's environment, including family, peers, school, and neighborhood. This program is a clinical adaptation of Multisystemic Therapy*.
* A separate fact sheet is available for this program.
MST-PSB has been examined in internal randomized controlled trials. Compared to youth in treatment as usual, youth in MST-PSB demonstrated significant declines in sexual re-offending at follow-up periods of approximately 3 and 9 years. For nonsexual re-offending, however, results are mixed, and only two studies found significant group differences at follow-up. Findings also indicate positive program effects for individual adjustment, delinquent behaviors, family and peer relationships, academic functioning, and out-of-home placements. Results from a long-term follow-up, when participants were approximately 39 years old, indicated that MST-PSB participants had fewer sexual and nonsexual offenses, were sentenced to fewer days of incarceration, and had fewer family-related civil suits than participants in usual community services.
MST-PSB is implemented in the youth's home or in a community setting and is facilitated by trained therapists. Therapists assess the social contexts in which adolescents interact and provide a comprehensive, individualized treatment plan that includes individual and family therapy sessions. Though treatment is individualized, MST-PSB typically focuses on the following topics:
In cases where problem sexual behaviors do not show improvement, adolescent cognitive distortions and cognitive deficiencies are assessed and targeted by using individual interventions, such as modeling, role-play and perspective-taking exercises, behavioral contingencies, self-monitoring, and self-instruction.
Licensed teams are located across the United States in Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. Four agencies in the United Kingdom and one agency in the Netherlands are currently delivering the program.
This program is delivered by a team of two to four therapists and a supervisor. Facilitators must be master's-level clinical therapists who are certified in MST-PSB treatment methods. Program development and start-up fees are $11,000 and include a 2-day, on-site clinical orientation training for treatment team members and program administrators. An off-site, 5-day standard MST orientation training is also required and costs $850 per staff member, plus travel and lodging. Licensing fees and implementation materials cost an additional $4,000 per site.
Considerations for implementing MST-PSB include acquiring qualified staff and ensuring they complete training and have cell phones and access to computers, locating office space for the team, helping staff deliver the program with fidelity, and obtaining funds to pay for program training and implementation.
The Clearinghouse can help address these considerations. Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email Clearinghouse@psu.edu
If you are interested in implementing MST-PSB, the Clearinghouse is interested in helping you!
Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email Clearinghouse@psu.edu
MST-PSB is individualized for each family. Three or more therapy sessions are held each week for 5 to 7 months, and therapists are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to respond to a crisis. Additional sessions can be added depending on the needs of the participants and recommendations of the facilitator.
Program costs include program development and start-up fees, licensing fees, staff salaries, ongoing training, technical assistance, travel expenses, and quality assurance support. The cost for 1 year of program implementation for two teams, each with one supervisor and four therapists (serving about 64 families over the year), is approximately $882,000.
To move MST-PSB to the Effective category on the Clearinghouse Continuum of Evidence at least one external evaluation must be conducted that demonstrates a sustained, positive effect for sexual re-offending. This study must be conducted independently of the program developer.
The Clearinghouse can help you develop an evaluation plan to ensure the program components are meeting your goals. Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email Clearinghouse@psu.edu
Contact the Clearinghouse with any questions regarding this program.
Phone: 1-877-382-9185 Email: Clearinghouse@psu.edu
You may also contact Dr. Richard Munschy by phone 1-616-523-6306, email munschy@mstpsb.com, or visit www.mstpsb.com/
https://www.mstpsb.com/; https://www.blueprintsprograms.org/programs/849999999/multisystemic-therapy-problem-sexual-behavior-mst-psb/; https://www.cebc4cw.org/program/multisystemic-therapy-for-youth-with-problem-sexual-behaviors/detailed; Borduin, Schaeffer, and Heiblum (2009); and Letourneau et al. (2009).
Borduin, C. M., Henggeler, S. W., Blaske, D. M., & Stein, R. J. (1990). Multisystemic treatment of adolescent sexual offenders. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 34(2), 105-113. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X9003400204
Borduin, C. M., Quetsch, L. B., Johnides, B. D., & Dopp, A. R. (2021). Long-term effects of Multisystemic Therapy for Problem Sexual Behaviors: A 24.9-year follow-up to a randomized clinical trial. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 89(5), 393-405. https://doi.org/10.1037/ccp0000646
Borduin, C. M., Schaeffer, C. M., & Heiblum, N. (2009). A randomized clinical trial of multisystemic therapy with juvenile sexual offenders: Effects on youth social ecology and criminal activity. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 77(1), 26-37. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0013035
Letourneau, E. J., Henggeler, S. W., Borduin, C. M., Schewe, P. A., McCart, M. R., Chapman, J. E., & Saldana, L. (2009). Multisystemic therapy for juvenile sexual offenders: 1-year results from a randomized effectiveness trial. Journal of Family Psychology, 23(1), 89-102. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0014352
Letourneau, E. J., Henggeler, S. W., McCart, M. R., Borduin, C. M., Schewe, P. A., & Armstrong, K. S. (2013). Two-year follow-up of a randomized effectiveness trial evaluating MST for juveniles who sexually offend. Journal of Family Psychology, 27(6), 978-985. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0034710
