De Kwaliteit van de Ouder-adolescent Relatie na Multi Systeem Therapie als Mediator voor Externaliserend Probleemgedrag van Jongeren in Nederland

Abstract

Background: The aim of current study was to investigate whether changes in externalising problem behaviour realised by MST, were mediated by the quality of the parent-adolescent relationship. The current study tested the hypotheses that mediation found place for both adolescents’ and parents’ reports. Method: Participants were 147 adolescents, with a mean age of 15.91 years (SD = 1.42) who showed serious antisocial and delinquent behaviour and their families. Results: A mediation test was done to test the hypothesis, which confirmed the hypotheses for adolescents’ reports. The mediation effect of the quality of the parent-adolescent relationship on the relation between MST and externalising problem behaviour after MST turned out to be partially. Parents’ reports showed no mediation. Discussion: No mediation was found in parents’ reports. However, the sample of parents who completed all questionaires used in current study was small (n = 28). This might make it hard to find significant relationships. Adolescents’ reports showed partial mediation, which is common in social research. It does however raise the question of which other mechanisms of MST play a role in reducing antisocial behaviour. Follow-up research should focus on which mechanisms of MST contribute to a reduction in externalising problem behaviour the most or focus on which combination of mechanisms works best.