Brief Strategic Family Therapy for Young People in Treatment for Drug Use

Abstract

Purpose: This review evaluates the evidence on the effects of brief strategic family therapy (BSFT) on drug use reduction for young people in treatment for nonopioid drug use. Method: We followed Campbell Collaboration guidelines to prepare this review and ultimately located three studies for final analysis and interpretation. Results: The results are mixed: BSFT does not seem to have better or worse effects on drug use frequency and family functioning than other treatments but has positive effects on treatment retention compared to control conditions. Longer retention in treatment has been identified as a consistent predictor of a favorable outcome from drug use treatment. Discussion: Although it is possible that the length of follow-up in the included studies was insufficient to detect significant changes, it should be noted that the evidence we found was limited, in terms of both the number of studies and their quality.