Treatment completion and therapeutic change among children referred for outpatient therapy

In clinical work with children, 40%-60% drop out of treatment prematurely and hence may not be receiving the benefits of treatment. The authors studied the relation of treatment completion and therapeutic change among children (N = 304; ages 3-13 years) referred for aggressive and antisocial behavior. Treatment completion was strongly related to therapeutic change, but many dropouts (34%) improved and improvement was predicted by similar variables whether or not children completed treatment. In delivering treatment, ongoing assessment of progress may be critical to decision making about continuation and termination of treatment.