Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 9, 2026

A Modified Trier Social Stress Test for Vulnerable Mexican American Adolescents
Published on: July 10, 2017
The Landscape of Randomized Controlled Trials for Behavioral Health-Focused Psychosocial Interventions for Youth in
Kaitlin M Sheerin1,2, Alyssa Vieira3, Shannon Williamson-Butler4
1Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.
Objective:
Youth in the juvenile legal system (JLS) exhibit high rates of behavioral health concerns and the development and evaluation of effective interventions is essential. The present study provided a systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of community-based psychosocial interventions focused on behavioral health among JLS-involved youth. This review sought to characterize the number of studies conducted, types of interventions tested, and the frequency of different types of primary outcomes (e.g., conduct problems, internalizing concerns).
Method:
A systematic search of articles published between January 1, 1990 and June 30, 2024 was conducted in PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, APA PsycINFO, and Cochrane Library's CENTRAL and Reviews, and Clinicaltrials.gov.
Results:
Fifty one studies from 38 unique RCTs were published over a 33.5 year period, with an average of 1.52 studies published annually. Family-focused interventions were most frequently tested and the most commonly studied outcomes were delinquency and conduct problems, followed by alcohol and substance use.
Conclusions:
There was a dearth of RCTs focused on the behavioral health of youth in the JLS published in the past 33.5 years. It seems imperative to scale up the number of RCTs conducted with this population, with a focus on both system diversion and ameliorating behavioral health concerns.
Public Health Relevance:
Randomized controlled trials provide strong scientific evidence for psychosocial interventions and are often the key to funding support for treatment programs for behavioral health concerns among juvenile legal system-involved youth. Even so, our findings indicated that there was a relative dearth of trials focused on this population-and especially trials focused on concerns beyond conduct problems and delinquency.
More Related Videos
05:52Handwriting Analysis Indicates Spontaneous Dyskinesias in Neuroleptic Naïve Adolescents at High Risk for Psychosis
Published on: November 21, 2013
13:08Measurement of Fronto-limbic Activity Using an Emotional Oddball Task in Children with Familial High Risk for Schizophrenia
Published on: December 2, 2015
Related Concept Videos
Community Based Intervention
Foundations of Community Mental Health Programs
Central to the success of community-based interventions is the...
Treatment Strategies for Psychological Disorders
Psychological therapies focus on modifying emotions, thoughts, and behaviors through talking, interpreting, listening, rewarding, challenging, and modeling. Clinical psychologists, counselors, and social workers commonly practice psychotherapy. Clinical...
Operant Conditioning Intervention
In operant conditioning, behaviors that are...
Randomized Experiments
Simple randomization
Simple...
Conduct Disorder
Behavior Modification
A real-world application of operant conditioning principles is applied...