evidence
Evidence

Foundational Concepts

Papers

Books

book cover 
Families and Family Therapy
Salvador Minuchin
book cover 
The Family Crucible: The Intense Experience of Family Therapy
Carl A. Whitaker, Augustus Y. Napier, Augustus Y Napier and Carl A Whitaker, et al.

Evidence Review Papers

Adolescent Externalizing Disorders
  • Alexander, J., Waldron, H., Robbins, M., & Neeb, A. Functional Family Therapy for Adolescent Behavior Problems. 2013, Washington DC: American Psychological Association.
  • Baldwin, S., Christian, S., Berkeljon, A., Shadish, W., & Bean, R. The Effects of Family Therapies for Adolescent Delinquency and Substance Abuse: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 2012, 38, 281-304.
  • Chamberlain, P. Treating Chronic Juvenile Offenders: Advances Made Through Oregon Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care Model.2003, Washington DC. American Psychological Association.
  • Eyberg SM, Nelson NM, Boggs SR. Evidence-Based Psychosocial Treatments for Children and Adolescents With Disruptive Behavior. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol 2008; 37 (1):215-37.
  • Henggeler, S., Schoenwald, S., Rowland, M., & Cunningham, P., Multisystemic Treatment of Children and Adolescents with Serious Emotional Disturbance, New York: Guilford. 2002.
  • Henggeler, S., Schoenwalds, S., Bordin, C., Rowland, M., & Cunningham, P. Multisystemic Therapy for Antisocial Behavior in Children and Adolescents. (2nd ed)2009, New York: Guilford.
  • Henggeler, S., & Sheidow, A. Empirically Supported Family-Based Treatments for Conduct Disorder and Delinquency in Adolescents. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 2012, 38, 30-58.
  • Henggeler, S., Schoenwalds, S., Bordin, C., Rowland, M., & Cunningham, P. Multisystemic Therapy for Antisocial Behavior in Children and Adolescents. (2nd ed)2009, New York: Guilford
  • Henggeler, S. Efficacy Studies to Large Scale Transport: The Development and Validation of MST Programs. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 2011, 7, 351-381.
  • Henggeler, S., & Sheidow, A. Empirically Supported Family-Based Treatments for Conduct Disorder and Delinquency i Kuipers, L., Leff, J., & Lam, D. Family Work for Schizophrenia (2nd ed). 2002, London: Gaskell n Adolescents. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 2012, 38, 30-58.
  • Henggeler, S., Schoenwalds, S., Bordin, C., Rowland, M., & Cunningham, P. Multisystemic Therapy for Antisocial Behavior in Children and Adolescents. (2nd ed)2009, New York: Guilford
  • Huey, S., Henggeler, S., Rowland, M., Halliday-Boykins, C., Cunningham, P., Pickrel, S., & Edwards, J. Multisystemic Therapy Reduces Risk in a High-Risk Sample. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 2004, 43. 183-190.
  • Schoenwald, S., Henggeler, S., & Rowland, M. Multisystemic Therapy. I T. Sexton & J. Lebow (eds), Handbook of Family Therapy (4th ed), 2015, 271-285. New York: Routledge.
  • Smith, D., & Chamberlain, P. Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care for Adolescents: Processes and Outcomes, in J. Weisz & A. Kazdin (Eds), Evidence-Based Psychotherapies for Children and Adolescents (2nd ed), 2010, 243-258, New York: Guilford Press.
  • Woolfenden, S., Williams, K., & Peat, J., Family and Parenting Interventions for Conduct Disorder and Delinquency: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Archives of Diseases in Childhood, 2002, 86, 251-256.
Adolescent Substance Use Disorders
  • Baldwin, S., Christian, S., Berkeljon, A., Shadish, W., & Bean, R. The Effects of Family Therapies for Adolescent Delinquency and Substance Abuse: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 2012, 38, 281-304.
  • Santiseban, S., Suarez-Morales, L., Robbins, M., & Szapocznik, J. Brief Strategic Family Therapy : Lessons Learned in Efficacy Research and Challenges to Blending Research and Practice. Family Process
  • Sexton, T. Functional Family Therapy in Clinical Practice. 2011, New York: Routledge.
  • Sexton, T. Functional Family Therapy , in T. Sexton and J. Lebow (eds), Handbook of Family Therapy (4th ed). 2015, New York: Routledge.
  • Szapocznik, J., Hervis, O., & Schwartz, S. Brief Strategic Family Therapy for Adolescent Drug Abuse. 2002, Rockville, MD, National Institute for Drug Abuse.
  • Szapocznik, J., Duff, J., Schwartz, D., Muir, J., & Brown, C. Brief Strategic Family Therapy for Behavior Problem Youth: Theory, Intervention, Research and Implementation, in T. Sexton & J. Lebow (eds), Handbook of Family Therapy (4th ed )2015, 286-304. New York: Routledge.
Anxiety Disorders
  • Barrett, P.M., Farrell L.M., Pina A, Peris T.S., Piacentini J. Evidence-Based Psychosocial Treatments for Child and Adolescent Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 2008, 37, 131-155.
  • Franklin, M.E., Kratz, H.E., Freeman, J.B., Ivarsson, T, Heyman, I, & Sookman, D. Accreditation Task Force of the Canadian Institute for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders. Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Empirical Review and Clinical Recommendations. Psychiatry Research. 2015, 227, 78-92.
  • Freeman, J., Garcia, A., Frank, H., Benito, K., Conelea, C., Walther, M., & Edmunds, J. Evidence Base Updates for Psychosocial Treatments for Pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology. 2015, 43, 7-26.
  • Peris, T., Thamrin, H., Rozenman, M., Family Intervention for Child and Adolescent Anxiety: A Meta-analytic Review of Therapy Targets, Techniques, and Outcomes May 2021 Journal of Affective Disorders, 282-295.
  • Thulin U, Svirsky L, Serlachius E, Andersson G, & Ost L. The Effect of Parent Involvement in the Treatment of Anxiety Disorders in Children: A Meta-Analysis. Cognitive Behavior Therapy 2014, 43, 185-200.
Early Childhood Behavior Problems
  • Abrahamse ME, Junger M, Chavannes EL, et al. Parent-Child Interaction Therapy for Preschool Children with Disruptive Behavior Problems in the Netherlands. Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health 2012; 6 (1):24.
  • Brinkmeyer MY, Eyberg SM. Parent-Child Interaction Therapy for Oppositional Children. In: Kazdin AE, Weissz JR, ed. Evidence- Based Psychotherapies for Children and Adolescents. New York: Guilford Press; 2003. 204-223.
  • Eyberg SM, Nelson NM, Boggs SR. Evidence-Based Psychosocial Treatments for Children and Adolescents With Disruptive Behavior. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol 2008; 37 (1):215-37.
  • Furlong M, McGilloway S, Bywater T, et al. Cochrane Review: Behavioral and Cognitive-Behavioral Group-Based Parenting Programmes for Early Onset Conduct Problems in Children Ages 3 to 12 Years. Evid Based Child Health 2013; 8 (2): 318-692.
  • Menting TA, de Castro O, Matthys W. Effectiveness of Incredible Years Parent Training to Modify Disruptive and Prosocial Child Behavior: A Meta-Analytic Review. Clin Psychol Rev 2013; 33 (8); 901-12.
  • Patterson GR. Coercive Family Process. Eugene (OR). Castalia Publishing ; 1982.
  • Solomon M, Ono M, Timmer S, et al. The Effectiveness of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy for Families of Children on the Autism Spectrum. J Autism Dev Disord 2008: 38 (9): 1767-76.
  • Tandon M, Giedinghagen A. Disruptive Behavior Disorders in Children 0 to 6 Years Old, Child Adolesc Psychiatric Clin N Am 26 2017 491-502.
  • Timmer SG, Urquiza AJ, Zebell NM, et al. Parent-Child Interaction Therapy: Application to Maltreating Parent-Child Dyads. Child Abuse Negl 2005; 29 (7)825-41.
Eating Disorders
  • Benedictson, J., Penner-Goeke, L., Hogan, E., Wiens, R., Theule, J Family-based treatment for adolescent anorexia nervosa: A meta-analysis. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, June 2025
  • Couturier J, Kimber M, Szatmari P. Efficacy of Family-Based Treatment for Adolescents with Eating Disorders: A systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. International Journal of Eating Disorders 46: 1 3-11 2013.
  • Eisler, I., Le Grange, D., & Lock, J., Treating Adolescents with Eating Disorders, in T. Sexton and J. Lebow (Eds), Handbook of Family Therapy, (4th ed)2015, 387-406. New York: Routledge.
  • Lock, J. Evaluation of Family Treatment Models for Eating Disorders. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 2011, 24, 274-279.
  • Smith, A., & Cook-Cottone, C. A Review of Family Therapy as an Effective Intervention for Anorexia Nervosa in Adolescents. Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings. 2011, 18, 323-334.
Mood Disorders
  • Clark, G., & DeBar, L. Group Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment for Adolescent Depression, in J. Weisz & A. Kazdin (Eds), Evidence- Based Psychotherapies for Children and Adolecents, (2nd ed) New York Guilford, 2010, 110-124.
  • Eckshtain, D., Horn, R., Weisz, J., Family-Based Interventions for Youth Depression: Meta-Analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials, National Library of Medicine 2023; 54(6):1737-1748.
  • Miklowitz, D. Bipolar Disorder: A Family-Focused Treatment Approach, (2nd ed), New York: Guilford. 2008.
  • Miklowitz, D., Chung, B., Family-Focused Therapy for Bipolar Disorder: Reflections on 30 Years of Research 2016 Jul 29;55(3):483–499.
  • Stark, K., Streusand, W., Krumholz, L., & Patel, P. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depression. The Action Treatment Program for Girls. In J. Weisz & A. Kazdin (eds), Evidence-Based Psychotherapies for Children and Adolescents (2nd ed), New York: Guilford. 2010.
  • Stark, K., Banneyer, K., Wang, L., & Arora, P. Child and Adolescent Depression in the Family. Couple and Family Pychology: Research and Practice. 2012. 1, 161-184.
  • Waraan, L., Siqveland, J., Aalberg, M., et al. Family therapy for adolescents with depression and suicidal ideation: A systematic review and meta-analysis 2022 SagePub Volume 28
Psychotic Disorders
  • Gleeson, J., Ludwig, K., Stiles, B., Piantella, S., McNab, C., Cotton, S., Fraser, M., Alvarez-Jimenez, M., Watson, A., Fraser, E., Penn, David Systematic review and meta-analysis of family-based interventions for early psychosis: Carer and patient outcomes. 2025 Science Direct 57-78
  • McFarlane, W., Lynch, S., & Melton, R., Family Psycho-education in Clinical High Risk and First-Epsiode Psychosis. Adolescent Psychiatry. 2012, 2, 182-194.
PTSD
  • Cohen, J., Mannarino, A., & Deblinger, E. Treating Trauma and Traumatic Grief in Children and Adolescents. New York: Guilford. 1st ed 2006; 2nd ed 2017.
  • Ramirez de Arrellano, M., Lyman, D., Jobe-Shields, L., George, P., Dougherty, R., Daniels, A., Ghose, S., Huang, L., & Delphin-Rittmon, M. Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Children and Adolescents: Assessing the Evidence. Psychiatric Services, 2014, 65, 591-602.
Review Papers
  • Carr, A. The Evidence-Base for Family Therapy and Systemic Interventions for Child-Focused Problems. Journal of Family Therapy. 2014, 36, 107-157.
  • Carr, A. Family Therapy for Adolescents: A Research-informed Perspective. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy 2016, 37, 467-479.
  • Carr, A. Family therapy and systemic interventions for child-focused problems: the current evidence base Journal of Family Therapy 2019 153-213.
  • Rickerby M, Roesler TA. Eds. Child Adolesc Psychiatric Clin N Am Edition on Family-Based Treatment in Child Psychiatry 2015 (July).
  • Sharma N, Sargent J, Overview of the Evidence Base for Family Interventions in Child Psychiatry. Child Adolesc Psychiatric Clin N Am 24 (2015) 471-485.
Suicidality
  • Diamond, G., Wintersteen, M., Brown, G., Diamond, G., Gallop, R., Shelef, K., & Levy, S. Attachment- Based Family Therapy for Depressed Adolescents with Suicidal Ideation: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 2010, 49, 122-131.
  • King, C., Kramer, A., Preuss, L., Kerr, D., Weisse, L., & Venkataraman, S. Youth-Nominated Support Team for Suicidal Adolescents (Version 1), a Randomized-Controlled Trial. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology , 2006, 74, 199-206.
  • Miller, A., Rathus, J., & Linehan, M., Dialectical Behavior Therapy with Suicidal Adolescents. 2007, New York: Guilford.
  • Pravin I, Diamond G, Siqveland J, Diamond G. What Can Attachment Based Family Therapy Offer Depressed and Suicidal Youth. Suicidology 2011, Arg. 16 NR 1. 13-17.
  • Waraan, L., Siqveland, J., Aalberg, M., et al. Family therapy for adolescents with depression and suicidal ideation: A systematic review and meta-analysis 2022 SagePub Volume 28.

Evidence-Based Resources

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Family-Based Treatment Approaches in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services

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