Has the client undergone a clinically meaningful change after an empirically supported intervention? Helping social workers to assess individual treatment effects using Functional Family Therapy as an example

Per Martin Bergström, Siddhartha Baviskar

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

Abstract

Best practice in social work must be founded on research designs focusing on the effects of treatments not only on groups but also on the individuals receiving them. Typical group-level analyses generate averages, and conclusions drawn from such statistical summaries provide limited knowledge about individual change, which is vital for social workers considering interventions for their clients. Using indicators of “clinically meaningful change” (CMC), we illustrate the importance of individual-level analyses by comparing their results to those from typical, group-level analyses on a population of 146 families with adolescents receiving Functional Family Therapy (FFT) from Swedish Child Welfare Services. The conventional group-level analysis confirmed previous research: in general, FFT reduced psychosocial symptoms among adolescents. However, the individual-level analyses showed that it would be misleading to interpret this overall result as showing that all adolescents receiving FFT reduced their behavioral symptoms. While most of the results showed a positive clinically meaningful change in adolescent symptoms following FFT, several results indicated no change or negative change. The study thus demonstrates the importance of CMC indicators for generating individual-level information that social workers can harness to find the optimal solution to the problems of their clients.
Translated title of the contributionHar klienten gennemgået en klinisk meningsfuld forandring efter en empirisk understøttet intervention? Hjælp til socialrådgivere med at vurdere individuelle behandlingseffekter vha. Funktionel Familieterapi som eksempel
Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of Family Social Work
ISSN1052-2158
Publication statusSubmitted - 12 Sept 2023

Keywords

  • parents

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