Marte Meo - a systemic school-based model for early detection and intervention targeting children who display externalizing behaviour
At a glance
Country of origin
- Sweden
Level(s) of intervention
- Indicated prevention
The programme incorporates a systemic school-based model for early detection and intervention. It is aimed at 4-12 year old children who display externalizing behaviour. The Marte Meo model aims to enhance the teachers’ ability to support children. Children and teacher/parent interactions are videoed and then analysed in order to identify the child’s particular support needs. In this programme, the Marte Meo model is combined with coordination meetings whereby teachers, parents and significant others in the child’s life come together to discuss the progress of the child and the intervention.
Keywords
No dataLinks to this programme in other registries
Implementation Experiences
Read the experiences of people who have implemented this programme.Contact details
Ulf Axberg
Department of Psychology
Göteberg University
Child and Adolescent Pediatric Services
Hospital of Skaraborg
SE-405 30
Sweden
Email: ulf.axborg[a]psy.gu.se
Overview of results from the European studies
Studies overview
The programme has been evaluated in one quasi-experimental in Sweden using a small sample (n = 50 over both groups) of 4 to 12 year old children who display externalising behaviours. Overall, the comparison group changed for the worse, whereas the intervention group demonstrated a significant reduction in symptom scores. However, the difference between the groups did not reach statistical significance. The intervention group demonstrated a significant reduction in pre-test and posttest ratings of children’s symptom scores on the CBCL internalising, externalising and total symptom scores, as well as the TRF externalising and total scores and on the CTRS. There was no significant change on the TRF internalising syndrome scale.
Countries where evaluated
- Sweden
Characteristics
Protective factor(s) addressed
- No defined protective factors
Risk factor(s) addressed
- Individual and peers: other
Outcomes targeted
- Other behaviour outcomes
Description of programme
The programme incorporates a systemic school-based model for early detection and intervention. It is aimed at 4-12 year old children who display externalizing behaviour. The collaborative model incorporates the Marte Meo intervention and coordination meetings.
There are two basic elements in MM: analysis and intervention. The first step is to make a 5–10-minute video recording of the child interacting with his or her parent or teacher. The therapist uses the prototype of developmental and supportive dialogue to analyse and select sequences from the video recording. The dialogical structure is organized into seven principal elements: (1) the adult seeks to locate the child’s focus of attention; (2) the adult confirms the child’s focus of attention; (3) the adult actively awaits the child’s reaction; (4) the adult names the on-going and forthcoming actions, events, experiences, feelings, and anticipated experience; (5) the adult confirms desired behaviour approvingly; (6) the adult triangulates the child in relation to ‘‘the world’’ by introducing persons, objects, and phenomena to the child; and (7) the adult takes responsibility for an adjusted and reciprocal ending.
After analysis, the therapist and adult together view and discuss sequences previously selected by the therapist. The focus of the discussion is to help the adult to see the supportive needs of the child and to stimulate the adult to modify his or her behaviour in a way that will promote the child’s development. Relevant communicative behaviour that will help to achieve this goal is identified from the film sequence. Finally, the adult is given the task of practicing these new types of behaviour in daily situations. During the next recording and reviewing, feedback is obtained regarding whether the previous intervention has been helpful and is leading toward the desired goal.
Coordination meetings (CM) implies that a coordinator, parent(s), teacher(s), special needs teacher(s), and sometimes other people who are considered particularly important for the child come together on a regular basis to discuss the child and the intervention. The rationale for the use of coordination meetings includes addressing many different domains of children’s lives, the necessity of targeting interventions in the same direction, the use of collaborative problem solving, the risk of the development of problem-affirmative communication around the child, the importance of sharing and discussing thoughts and feelings around the child’s behaviour with the adults in the family-school system and the assumption that the educating and socializing of children and young people is a responsibility shared between the family and the child’s social and professional networks.
