The effectiveness of Functional Family therapy in a Norwegian context (PhD-project)

About the project

This project is an effectiveness trial of Functional family therapy (FFT) in a Norwegian setting. FFT is offered as a treatment for severe problem behavior in the Norwegian Child Welfare Services. This PhD-project is a part of the project Evaluation of Functional Family Therapy (FFT) in Norway conducted by the The Norwegian Center for Child Behavioral Development.

In addition to studying the effectiveness of FFT, we will focus on family and parenting factors related to treatment of problem behavior.

Objectives

To evaluate the effectiveness of FFT treatment in regular service settings in Norway, and to study potential mechanisms of change in treatment of severe youth problem behavior.

Background

The project is a randomized controlled trial, and the data collection was conducted between 2013 and 2018. 160 families took part in the project, and these were randomly assigned to either FFT or to regular treatment. The families were contacted on several timepoints over an 18-month period. The data consist of questionnaires, telephone interviews, video, and data from the Norwegian official registries.

The project period for this PhD project is from 1st January 2020 to 15th January 2024.

Supervisors

• Gunnar Bjørnebekk, The Department of Special Needs Education, UiO, project leader
• Kristine Amlund Hagen, The Norwegian Center for Child Behavioral Development

Financing

The Norwegian Center for Child Behavioral Development (NUBU)