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A Review of Brief, Child‐Oriented Family Therapy Outcome Research: Descriptive Reports and Single Group Studies
Author(s) -
Smyrnios Kosmas X.,
Kirkby Robert J.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
australian and new zealand journal of family therapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.297
H-Index - 19
eISSN - 1467-8438
pISSN - 0814-723X
DOI - 10.1002/j.1467-8438.1989.tb00759.x
Subject(s) - family therapy , outcome (game theory) , psychology , confounding , descriptive statistics , psychotherapist , group psychotherapy , criticism , descriptive research , clinical psychology , medicine , social science , art , statistics , mathematics , literature , mathematical economics , pathology , sociology
The present review concerned outcome research in brief child‐oriented family therapy. Eleven investigations in the categories of descriptive reports and single group studies were critically reviewed. Although most investigators claimed that brief family therapy was effective these claims must be judged in terms of the quality of the research. All studies were vulnerable to criticism according to the methodological criteria used in the present review. As might be expected with studies in these categories, problem areas included: lack of control procedures, statistical analysis, confounding of the therapeutic variables, baseline and outcome measurement techniques, and follow‐up procedures. The findings supported previous reports that carefully‐designed studies of psychotherapy with children and families were rare. Without such valid investigations the possible value of brief child‐orientated family therapy cannot be ascertained.