FFT is an evidence-based treatment for adolescent behavioural problems, conduct behaviour, substance misuse and delinquency. Therapists meet regularly, usually on a weekly basis for about 3 or 4 months, with adolescents and their families in conjoint sessions. During these sessions they develop a therapeutic alliance with family members, help families develop better parenting practices, communication and problem-solving skills, and use these skills independently to generalize progress made within therapy to home and community contexts. Between 2010 and 2014, a research programme to evaluate the effectiveness and implementation of FFT at Archways Family First was conducted by Professor Alan Carr, Dan Hartnett and Clare Graham from the School of Psychology at University College Dublin, in collaboration with Professor Tom Sexton at Indiana University and the team of FFT therapists at Archways Family First. This FFT research programme involved a retrospective survey covering the period 2007-2011, followed by a prosepctive randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the effectiveness of FFT at Archways Families First during a later stage of service development covering the period 2012-2014. The RCT provided a valid test of the impact of FFT on adolescent behavioural problems and family adjustment with an Irish context.

Probability: Simple random. RCT study was conducted with FFT intervention group and waiting-list control group. Cases in the waiting-list control arm of the trial continued to receive treatment-as-usual from the referring service. Participants referred to the trial were screened for suitability with the SDQ during home-visits or at the Archways Families First centre. Those scoring at or above the clinical cut-off of 17 on the total difficulties scale of the parent-completed version of the SDQ were randomized to FFT or control groups. Minimization procedures were used to reduce differences between treatment and control group cases on age, gender, family composition (one- or two-parent family) and SDQ profile.

Self-administered questionnaire: Paper