Treatment integrity refers to implementing interventions as intended. Treatment integrity is critically important for experimental validity and for drawing valid inferences regarding the relationship between treatment and outcome. Yet, it is rarely adequately addressed in psychotherapy research. The authors examined barriers to treatment integrity…

Provides introduction to special section of journal on new ideas about how to analyze change. Reviews Rogosa's (1988) myths of longitudinal research. Includes overview of other articles in the section that emphasizes what is new and improved in design and analysis of change. (Author/NB)

Kent criticizes Patterson's study on treating the behavior problems of boys, on several methodological bases concluding that more rigorous research is required in this field. Patterson answers Kent's criticisms arguing that they are not based on sound grounds. Patterson offers further evidence to support the efficacy of his treatment procedures.…

Reviews several assumptions commonly made about the grieving process: that depression is inevitable; that distress is necessary and failure to experience it indicates pathology; that it is necessary to "work through" a loss; and that recovery and resolution are to be expected following loss. Notes that available empirical work fails to support and…

After a concise overview of the technical characteristics that define brief psychotherapy, the current use and misuse of these methods in clinical research on the outcome and process of treatment is examined. Suggests that brief psychotherapy methods possess unique technical advantages to the researcher. (Author/BL)

Discusses problems and issues of psychotherapy process research. Notes complexity of research that attempts to combine process and outcome adequately. Suggests that more than one therapeutic orientation be studied in specific project to include some type of control. Cautions that, although statistically significant correlations between process and…

Analyzes the attrition dilemma and reviews the methods used to compensate for data loss. Argues that attrition is not utlimately a problem of bias but a problem of lack of information. Offers a reformulation that integrates single-case studies with traditional group comparison methodology in an attempt to find optimal causal relations of…

The results from the present study indicate that in a sample of psychotherapy patients, cooperative and less cooperative research subjects are distinguishable on a number of characteristics including background and psychotherapy variables. These results caution against generalizations based merely on cooperative participants. (Author)

Questions assumptions that process variables have fixed meanings, discretely contribute to outcomes, and have a decontextualized net worth, evaluated by their correlations with outcomes. Suggests conceptual framework that integrates theory-driven and discovery-oriented strategies into cyclical, ecologically oriented model. (Author/NB)

Child abuse research has provided information on psychological sequelae of sexual molestation, with findings helpful in informing social policy and guiding mental health practice. Because of recency of interest, costs, and time investment associated with more rigorous longitudinal research, many studies have used correlational designs and…

Issues related to the selection of assessment procedures, the scaling of assessment devices, the computation of difference or change scores, and the translation of these scores into common indexes of outcome are explored. Suggestions are provided for refining the measurement of inferred states. (Author/BL)

Reviews methods for analyzing outcome data when some data are missing. Presents approach for comparing outcome results in two-group, randomized design with missing data. Proposed analysis is based on concept of "modeling our ignorance" by examining all possible outcomes, given known number of missing results with binary outcome, and then…

Replicated a study of boys with conduct problems using a parent-mediated treatment. Parents were trained to alter deviant behavior by following procedures derived from social learning theory. Child behavior showed significant change through termination as measured by parental reports. Follow-up data showed improvements were maintained through one…

Discusses methodological problems involving use of MMPI by reviewing past literature. MMPI is so easily used that it is sometimes misapplied or data obtained from it are incorrectly analyzed by researchers unfamiliar with its limitations or peculiarities. Suggestions for improving research design are made. (Author/BEF)

Presents rationales for the increased use of sequential analyses of language variables in psychotherapy, including this strategy's special applicability in process investigations, its potential for specifying influence patterns, and its ability to produce findings pertinent to the practicing clinician. Replicable single-case studies, utilizing…