The Development of a Systemic School-Based Intervention: Marte Meo and Coordination Meetings

To purchase or authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1545-5300.2006.00177.x Byline: ULF AXBERG ([dagger]), KJELL HANSSON ([double dagger]), ANDERS G BROBERG (s.), INGEGERD WIRTBERG ([dagger][dagger]) Keywords: Marte Meo; Coordination Meetings; School-Based Intervention; Externalizing Behavior Problems Abstract: Antisocial behavior is often persistent, and in addition to causing suffering to children and their families, it also poses considerable costs for society. Children who display externalizing behavior in their early years run a high risk of having severe problems later in life. There is a need for treatment methods that may be used in various settings because these children constitute a group that is hard to reach with conventional treatment methods. In addition, the dropout rate from ordinary treatment is often high. In the present study, a systemic school-based model for early detection and intervention among 4-12-year-old children who displayed externalizing behavior problems was developed and examined in a nonrandomized study in the county of Skaraborg in Sweden. The intervention was collaborative and included a combination of the Marte Meo model and coordination meetings based on systemic theory and practice. Treatment effects in the group who had received the intervention were compared with a group who had received treatment as usual in their ordinary school setting. Assessments were carried out before, and 2 years after, the intervention. For the intervention group (N=33), there was a significant decrease in the children's reported symptoms in school and in the home. No decrease in externalizing behavior was found in the comparison group (N=16). There were no dropouts in the intervention group after the intervention had begun. The results are promising; the study demonstrates that it is possible to work effectively with many children who display externalizing behavior problems in a nonclinical setting. Author Affiliation: ([dagger])Department of Psychology, Goteborg University, Child and Adolescent Pediatric Services, Hospital of Skaraborg, Sweden. ([double dagger])School of Social Work, Lund University, Sweden. (s.)Department of Psychology, Goteborg University, Sweden. ([dagger][dagger])Department of Psychology, Lund University, Sweden. Article note: Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Ulf Axberg, Department of Psychology, Goteborg University, Box 500, SE-405 30 Goteborg, Sweden. Tel: +46-31-773 58 34; Fax: +46-31-773 46 20. E-mail: Ulf.axberg@psy.gu.se