Treatment Outcomes

“MDFT has the strongest evidence.”

— Snowdon et al, 2019

MDFT is Proven to:

Reduce

  • Substance Misuse

  • Mental Health Symptoms

  • Aggressive Behavior

  • Negative Peer Relationships

  • Crime & Delinquency

  • Out of Home Placement

Enhance

  • School Performance

  • Family Functioning & Stability

  • Prosocial Involvement

  • Positive Peer Relationships

The foundation of MDFT is based on numerous randomized clinical trials (RCTs) conducted in both the United States and Europe with diverse populations and settings.

The level of proven effectiveness demonstrated is unsurpassed in youth treatment. 

Learn more about RCTs

What People Are Saying

“MDFT is often regarded as a substance abuse treatment program, for historic reasons (funding sources and initial research interests) and achieved outcomes, but the approach is also valuable for treating adolescent externalizing symptoms and delinquency...In earlier trials and the present one, MDFT reduced the rate of externalizing symptoms more so than active comparison treatments. Lowering the level of externalizing symptoms may help a youth refrain from criminal offenses.”

— Schaub et al., 2014

“We’ve had MDFT at the Village for 20 years. And I have to say that the work that we have done in Hartford in MDFT has been with a tough population—human trafficking, gang members, youth involved in drug sales. The population that we work with have a lot of troubles and we have consistently been able to have great outcomes. We still see some former clients who come back to visit or for other services at the Village, and  some of them  have children of their own, and they talk about how MDFT helps them with their own children.”

— Catherine Corto-Mergins, Director of Training
The Village for Children and Families, Hartford, Connecticut