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Group-based parent training programmes are a common intervention for tackling conduct problems in young people. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of a parent training programme on young people presenting with conduct problems. 123 parents of young people aged 10 to 17 with conduct problems participated in the study. A one-group, pre-post design was adopted. Participants completed the Child Behaviour Check List (CBCL) at the beginning and end of the parenting programme. The degree of change was indexed by: a) Mean change; b) change from clinical to non-clinical status; and c) Reliable change. Logistic regression was used to identify predictors of reliable positive change in CBCL problems. Analyses from all three sources suggest that there was a significant reduction in CBCL internalising, externalising and total scores. Withdrawn score pre-treatment was the only independent predictor of reliable change in internalising and total scores: the higher the score pre-treatment, the greater the chances of reliable improvement in post-treatment scores. The study provides evidence in support of the therapeutic improvement achieved by some young people whose parents attended the group parent training programme. The programme had a significant impact on internalising as well as externalising problems. Further studies of the programme would benefit from being run as a randomised clinical trial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The paper illustrates the MST treatment model with three types of presenting problem in young people aged 14–15. Method: The MST model is described and then illustrated with detailed case material from a violent young person convicted of robbery, a young person with a history of serious self-harming behaviour and hospitalisation, and a young person persistently smoking cannabis. Results: All three cases improved after the MST intervention despite disparate presenting problems that included re-offending, the elimination of self-harming behaviour and a significant reduction in the use of cannabis. The three young people were re-integrated into the education system. Conclusion: This case series illustrates the potential uses of the MST model in CAMHS although RCT data are needed to replicate the effectiveness of MST in the British context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]