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…

Considers stress management and coping studies in health care insufficiently grounded in theory; researchers have not adequately considered demands presented by stressor under study. Explores this theme in five areas: (1) effectiveness of problem- versus emotion-focused coping strategies; (2) effectiveness of interventions; (3) role of individual…

Considers relationship between statistically and clinically significant change. Sees Jacobson and Truax's index of clinically significant change as neglecting possible confounding of improvement rate estimates by regression to the mean. Describes alternative method (Edwards-Nunnally method) that incorporates an adjustment that minimizes this…

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)

Methodological problems associated with treatment research on cigarette smoking are explored, and possible solutions are discussed. The main problems considered are the selection and retention of subjects, the measurement of smoking, the design of treatment studies, and the interpretation and generalizability of experimental results. (Author)

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…

Describes prospective longitudinal studies that pertain to stability, developmental pathways, and long-term outcome for conduct problems and hyperactivity. Reviews treatment outcome studies for these problems with at least one year of follow-up data. Discusses implications of longitudinal research for diagnosis, assessment, and treatment of…

Describes hypothesis validity as extent to which research results reflect theoretically derived predictions about relations between or among constructs. Discusses role of hypotheses in theory testing. Presents four threats to hypothesis validity: (1) inconsequential research hypotheses; (2) ambiguous research hypotheses; (3) noncongruence of…

Notes that studies in psychology often have low power because of inadequate sample size and that prevalent psychometric distributions are sometimes radically nonnormal. Demonstrates robustness of independent samples t-test with respect to Type I error. Shows that researchers may use power tables based on population normality without modification…

Reviews misuse of statistical tests in psychotherapy research studies published in "Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology" in 1967-68, 1977-78, and 1987-88. Focuses on inappropriate uses of null hypotheses tests and p values, neglect of effect size, and inflation of Type I error rate. Concludes with practical suggestions for rational…

Gotlib and Asarnow suggest that learned helplessness may not adequately model clinical depression. They reply to Rohsenow's criticism that Gotlib and Asarnow's conclusions are unwarranted because the null hypothesis is not demonstrated by a single study and because adequate diagnostic criteria are not presented. (Author/BEF)

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)

Notes that psychotherapy process research has produced advances in measure development and substantive findings of process-outcome relations. Describes paradigm shift toward sequentially patterned, significant change episodes, emphasizing segmentation of process by meaningful patterns wherever they occur. Reviews theoretical, psychometric, and…

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…