Evidence-based practice for conduct disorder symptoms

Using EBP, two promising treatment approaches were identified for Evan and his family. Both PMT and CPSST have produced significant improvement for children similar to Evan. Although the results were obtained using specially trained clinicians in a research setting, the descriptions of treatment conditions and availability of considerable written material describing the interventions support the feasibility of these modalities for clinicians in practice. Sufficient results with children like Evan merit consideration by therapists. Application of these techniques for children with symptoms of conduct disorder, however imperfectly done, is likely to be an improvement over treatment based solely on a practitioner's personal preferences, yet may still fall short of the results achieved by those with extensive training and experience doing PMT and CPSST. Although there are many excellent sources that provide critical analysis for evidence-based treatments (BMJ Publishing Group; Carr, 2000; Cochrane Database of Systemic Reviews; Fonagy et al., 2002; Scott et al., 2001) and reviews of conduct disorder treatments (Kazdin, 2001), they cannot keep up with the rapidly growing information from new research reports. Even the studies mentioned in this article will soon be dated. EBP is an approach that organizes and directs the essential clinical skills of critically reviewing the literature and applying the available information to patient care. Our knowledge about antisocial behaviors in youths and effective interventions is rapidly growing and EBP can help clinicians understand and effectively apply it in patient care. Copyright 2006