Evaluating attachment-based family therapy in residential treatment in the United States: does adolescents’ increased attachment security to caregivers lead to decreases in depressive symptoms?

RTCs that can generate improvements in attachment insecurity and depressive symptoms, via ABFT or other ESFTs, might improve treatment outcomes, and ideally, adolescents' successful transition back home to families. More research is needed to disentangle the contribution of ABFT and other treatment elements in a multimodal, residential treatment program. The study supports the call for increased incorporation of families into the RTC treatment process.