Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Jun 13;6(1):e86.
doi: 10.1017/cts.2022.418. eCollection 2022.

Treatment completion among justice-involved youth engaged in behavioral health treatment studies in the United States: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Annalee Johnson-Kwochka  1 , Eduardo F Salgado  1 , Casey A Pederson  2   3 , Matthew C Aalsma  2   3 , Michelle P Salyers  1
Affiliations
Review

Treatment completion among justice-involved youth engaged in behavioral health treatment studies in the United States: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Annalee Johnson-Kwochka et al. J Clin Transl Sci. .

Abstract

Justice-involved youth (JIY) have high rates of behavioral health disorders, but few can access, much less complete, treatment in the community. Behavioral health treatment completion among JIY is poorly understood, even within treatment studies. Measurement, reporting, and rates of treatment completion vary across studies. This systematic review and meta-analysis synthesizes the literature on rates of treatment completion among JIY enrolled in research studies and identifies potential moderators. After systematically searching 6 electronic databases, data from 13 studies of 20 individual treatment groups were abstracted and coded. A meta-analysis examined individual prevalence estimates of treatment completion in research studies as well as moderator analyses. Prevalence effect sizes revealed high rates of treatment completion (pr = 82.6). However, analysis suggests a high likelihood that publication bias affected the results. Treatment groups that utilized family- or group-based treatment (pr = 87.8) were associated with higher rates of treatment completion compared to treatment groups utilizing individual treatment (pr = 61.1). Findings suggest that it is possible to achieve high rates of treatment completion for JIY, particularly within the context of family- and group-based interventions. However, these findings are limited by concerns about reporting of treatment completion and publication bias.

Keywords: Adolescent; behavioral medicine; juvenile delinquency; meta-analysis; patient participation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
PRISMA flow chart.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Treatment completion by treatment type. Note: Treatment groups are marked as T (treatment group), C (control group), or T1 and T2 for multiple treatments in comparative effectiveness studies.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
Funnel plot of treatment completion with imputed studies. Note: Imputed studies are shown in black.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Wasserman GA, McReynolds LS, Ko SJ, Katz LM, Carpenter JR. Gender differences in psychiatric disorders at juvenile probation intake. American Journal of Public Health 2005; 95(1): 131–137. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wasserman GA, McReynolds LS, Schwalbe CS, Keating JM, Jones SA. Psychiatric disorder, comorbidity, and suicidal behavior in juvenile justice youth. Criminal Justice and Behavior 2010; 37(12): 1361–1376.
    1. Henggeler SW, Clingempeel WG, Brondino MJ, Pickrel SG. Four-Year follow-up of multisystemic therapy with substance-abusing and substance-dependent juvenile offenders. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 2002; 41(7): 868–874. - PubMed
    1. Kandel DB. Stages and Pathways of Drug Involvement: Examining the Gateway Hypothesis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002.
    1. Mutter R, Ali MM, Smith K, Strashny A. Factors associated with substance use treatment completion in residential facilities. Drug and Alcohol Dependence 2015; 154: 291–295. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources