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Multisystemic Therapy for Child Abuse and Neglect: Do Parents Show Improvement in Parental Mental Health Problems and Parental Stress?
Author(s) -
Hefti Stephanie,
Pérez Tania,
Fürstenau Ute,
Rhiner Bruno,
Swenson Cynthia C.,
Schmid Marc
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of marital and family therapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.868
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1752-0606
pISSN - 0194-472X
DOI - 10.1111/jmft.12367
Subject(s) - neglect , psychology , mental health , child abuse , clinical psychology , family therapy , psychiatry , developmental psychology , suicide prevention , poison control , medicine , medical emergency
Multisystemic Therapy for Child Abuse and Neglect ( MST ‐ CAN ) is an evidence‐based program for families with children who experience maltreatment. This clinical trial is the first evaluation of MST ‐ CAN in a German‐speaking area. Parental psychological problems and parental stress have been shown to be risk factors for child abuse and neglect. By the end of treatment, parents reported significantly less psychological distress than before the start of MST ‐ CAN . Six months after treatment, this reduction was still evident. However, parents did not report any significant reduction of parental stress at any of the three time points. MST ‐ CAN is an effective intervention for child maltreatment that not only combats child abuse and neglect but also has the potential to alleviate parental psychological distress.