Evaluation of the Sustainability and Clinical Outcome of Alternatives for Families: A Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (AF-CBT) in a Child Protection Center

• NCJ Number: 234561
• Journal: Child Abuse & Neglect Volume: 35 Issue: 2 Dated: February 2011 Pages: 105-116
• Author(s): David J. Kolko; Anne-Marie R. Iselin; Kevin J. Gully
• Date Published: February 2011
• Length: 12 pages
• Grant Number(s): 074737; 018269; SM54319
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Mental Health; Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Admin (SAMHSA)
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined the effectiveness of Alternatives for Families: A Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, a community-based child protection program.

Abstract

Preliminary results from the evaluation indicate that families that received Alternatives for Families: A Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (AF-CBT) abuse-specific content saw improvements on standardized parent rating scales (i.e., child externalizing behavior, anger, anxiety, social competence) and both parent and clinician ratings of the child's adjustment at discharge (i.e., child more safe, less scared/sad, more appropriate with peers). Data for this study were obtained from the files of 52 families with a physically-abused child who received services from a community-based child protection program. The program was staffed by practitioners who received both AF-CBT abuse-specific training and training in four other evidence-based treatment (EBT) models. After controlling for the unique content of the four EBTs, the AF-CBT content was found to improve the outcomes of the families receiving the program's services. Tables and references