Effects of Routine Feedback to Clinicians on Youth Mental Health Outcomes: A Randomized Cluster Design

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Mental Health Wellness 1; Psychosocial Problem

• Registration Number: NCT01308879
• Lead Sponsor: Vanderbilt University

Brief Summary

The purpose of this clinical trial was to test the hypothesis that clients of clinicians who were scheduled to receive weekly feedback on their clients' progress would improve faster than clients of clinicians who were not scheduled to receive weekly feedback.

Detailed Description

The primary approach to improving psychosocial treatment for youths has been to implement evidence-supported treatments (ESTs) in community services. However, this approach has not produced clear cut results of effectiveness. A recently developed alternative is to improve outcomes through routine measurement and feedback to clinicians and supervisors. The investigators used a cluster randomized experiment with 28 sites affiliated with a national behavioral health organization to assess whether clients of clinicians who were scheduled to receive weekly feedback on their clients' progress would improve faster than clients of clinicians who were not scheduled to receive weekly feedback.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2004-05
• Primary Completion: 2008-12
• Study Completion: 2009-06
• Status Verified: 2011-03
• Study First Submitted: 2011-03-02
• Study First Submitted QC: 2011-03-03
• Last Update Submitted: 2011-03-03
• Study First Posted: 2011-03-04
• Last Update Posted: 2011-03-04

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 356

Inclusion Criteria

• all youths 11-18 years old, entering treatment as usual, home-based services through the service provider. Youths' primary caregiver and clinician also participate.

Exclusion Criteria

Not provided

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Symptoms and Functioning Severity Scale	The SFSS is completed at intake by youths and caregivers, then by youths, caregivers, and clinicians at the 1st treatment session and every other session (week) thereafter for as long as the youth is enrolled in the intervention (CFS).	The SFSS is part of a battery of clinical measures (Peabody Treatment Progress Battery:PTPB) developed by the researchers. It assesses change in closely-timed repeated measurements. Parallel forms are completed by youths, caregivers, and clinicians at the end of treatment sessions. The SFSS includes 32 items that ask the respondent to rate how frequently in the last two weeks the youth experienced emotions or exhibited behaviors linked to typical mental health disorders for youths (e.g., ADHD, conduct disorder, depression).

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Brief Multidimensional Students' Life Satisfaction Scale-CEPI (BMSLSS-CEPI)	The BMSLSS-CEPI is completed by the youth at intake, at the 2nd treatment session, and every 8 weeks thereafter for as long as the youth is enrolled in the intervention (CFS).	The BMSLSS-CEPI is a revised version of the Brief Multidimensional Students' Life Satisfaction Scale (Seligson, Huebner, \& Valois, 2003). The BMSLSS-CEPI was designed to assess global life satisfaction as well as domain specific satisfaction with family, friends, school, self and living environment. Life satisfaction may be targeted directly or indirectly with treatment and thus can be thought of as a positive, or strengths-based, indicator of treatment progress (outcome).
The Children's Hope Scale (CHS)	The CHS is completed by the youth at intake and every 8 weeks thereafter for as long as the youth is enrolled in the intervention (CFS).	The CHS (Snyder et al., 1997), a public domain measure used with youth in this study, assesses youth hopefulness. The measure asks youths to report on their ability to generate paths toward goals and persevere toward those goals. Youth hopefulness is conceptually an important factor in the successful treatment of emotional or behavioral disorders, constituting an outcome that may be affected by the treatment process.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

28 sites in 10 states affiliated with Providence Service Corporation (location info is for corporate office); 🇺🇸 Tucson, Arizona, United States