Enough is enough: treatment dropout predictors of adolescents with harmful sexual behaviors in a New Zealand community sample

Purpose

Adolescents with harmful sexual behaviors (AHSB) who drop out of treatment are more likely to continue offending than are those who complete treatment; therefore, it is important to identify factors that heighten the risk of dropout, so they can be detected early. The purpose of this paper is to present the predictors of treatment dropout derived from a community sample of AHSB in New Zealand.

Design/methodology/approach

Pretreatment data on 100 males (aged 12–16) in community-based treatment for harmful sexual behavior were analyzed. Data on 50 adolescents who dropped out were matched by age and ethnicity to 50 adolescents who completed treatment. Pretreatment variables were identified using the Estimate of Risk of Adolescent Sexual Offence Recidivism. The degree to which these variables influenced treatment dropout was tested using logistic regression.

Findings

Compared to those who completed treatment, adolescents who dropped out were more likely to have a prior history of personal victimization, to deny or minimize their behavior, to have been mandated to attend treatment and to have engaged in noncontact offences.

Practical implications

Screening for a prior history of personal victimization, denial or minimization, mandated treatment and noncontact offences may facilitate the prediction of dropout risk more confidently. Addressing these pretreatment risk variables has the potential to improve treatment completion rates.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to highlight treatment dropout predictors in a New Zealand community sample.