The purpose of the present meta-analysis was to determine the effectiveness of wilderness therapy in addressing youth delinquency. A systematic review of the literature was conducted using 27 electronic databases and numerous gray literature sources, surveying literature published from 1990 to 2020. The search identified 189 potential studies for inclusion, resulting in a final study pool of 11 studies contributing 14 effect sizes from a total sample of 1,874 treatment youths. Both self-reported delinquency and caregiver-reported delinquency were examined using separate random-effects models. Pooled analyses yielded large, positive, and significant effects of 0.832 and 1.054 respectively, indicating that wilderness therapy is potentially an effective tool for addressing delinquent behaviors among youth. Limitations of the study include a lack of moderator analyses due to the small sample sizes. Wilderness therapy is a promising form of diversion programming and further investigation into this treatment modality is warranted.

本荟萃分析的目的是确定荒野疗法在解决青少年犯罪方面的有效性。使用 27 个电子数据库和大量灰色文献资源对文献进行了系统回顾，调查了 1990 年至 2020 年发表的文献。搜索确定了 189 项潜在的研究纳入，最终形成了 11 项研究的研究池，从1,874 名接受治疗的青少年的总样本。使用单独的随机效应模型检查了自我报告的犯罪和照顾者报告的犯罪。汇总分析分别产生了 0.832 和 1.054 的大的、积极的和显着的影响，表明荒野疗法可能是解决青少年犯罪行为的有效工具。该研究的局限性包括由于样本量小而缺乏调节分析。荒野疗法是一种有前途的转移规划形式，有必要对这种治疗方式进行进一步研究。