Multisystemic Therapy Intervention for adolescent girls with depression incarcerated in selected rehabilitation schools in Kenya

Michael Mbiriri, Ph.D., Kisii University

Abstract

TThe purpose of this paper is to show effectiveness of Multisystemic Therapy (MST) on depression among juvenile girls incarcerated in rehabilitation schools in Kenya. The study investigated effectiveness of MST on depression. It is worth noting that behavioral and emotional problems are among the most commonly occurring mental disorders of the juvenile girls incarcerated at Kirigiti and Dagoretti rehabilitation schools. Socio-demographic questionnaires and Achenbach Youth Self–Report were administered to the respondents. The prevalence of depression problem was 66.7%. In the experimental group, the study showed statistically significant difference in mean difference scores at both post-treatments one and two (p<0.001). This therefore is an indication that MST had an impact on post treatments one and two among the juvenile delinquents in the experimental group as opposed to the control group. The results provide significant insights into effectiveness of MST on selected depression problems among juvenile girls incarcerated in rehabilitation schools.

Keywords: Multisystemic Therapy, depression, Kirigiti, Dagoretti, incarceration, rehabilitation.