Treatment efficacy of narrative family therapy for children and adolescents with diverse psychiatric symptomatology

BACKGROUND: Little research has been undertaken on children and adolescents with psychiatric co-morbidity and this group is seldom subject to evidence-based treatment. Equally, there has been little research on creating an evidence base for Narrative Therapy, which means that narrative family therapy (NFT) is seldom available to children and adolescents with a psychiatric disorder. OBJECTIVE: A single group clinical design was used to examine the efficacy of NFT for children and adolescents with different diagnoses. METHOD: Families receiving NFT from the Family Therapy Team (FTT) at the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) of the Capital Region of Denmark filled out psychometric measurements before and after treatment. Patients evaluated the burden of symptoms using Beck’s Youth Inventory (BYI), and parents evaluated their personal agency in relationship to their child’s psychiatric disorder using Parent Activation Measurement (PAM). RESULTS: We analyzed data from 48 patients and found a significant increase in median BYI measures of Self-Concept (40.5 to 46.0, p = 0.002) with an effect size of 0.60, decreases in BYI Depression Index (58.0 to 54.0, p = 0.030) with an effect size of –0.41, decreases in BYI Disruptive Behaviour Index (48.0 to 43.0, p = 0.030) with an effect size of –0.38, and a significant increase in PAM from 56.4 to 68.5, p = 0.001 with an effect size of 0.61. CONCLUSION: Results from this study suggest that NFT has a direct positive effect on patients’ own evaluation of the burden of symptoms, and parents’ perceived personal agency regarding their child’s distress.