The empirical status of treatments for children and youth with conduct problems: An overview of meta-analytic studies

Objective: The present study identifies and summarizes treatment effects for children and adolescent conduct problems based on accrued meta-analytic studies. Method: Systematic search and coding procedures were used to summarize studies from 1980 to 2007. Results: A total of 26 meta-analytic reviews composed of nearly 2,000 studies revealed substantial variation in effect sizes. The majority (45%) of effect sizes was small to medium in magnitude (d <.36). In terms of the distribution of effect sizes (n = 125), the mean is d = 0.43 (SD = 0.32). Conclusion: Although there is considerable variation in effect sizes, the results seem to demonstrate evidence for equifinality. Furthermore, these effects are sturdy across a number of interrelated outcomes. Practitioners who work with children and adolescents should be aware of the range of evidence-based treatments available for conduct problems. Limitations of taking stock of treatment outcome literature via meta-analyses are highlighted.