How did the Treatment Work for Robin? And for Dylan? Studying Individual Youth Treatment Mediators Using Single-Case Experimental Designs

Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev. 2023 Sep;26(3):721-726. doi: 10.1007/s10567-023-00442-7. Epub 2023 Jul 5.

Abstract

Study of individual treatment mechanisms in youth interventions facilitates evidence-based development, selection and implementation of treatment components that are most effective for each individual child. This position paper aims to bring together two important topics from the area of youth intervention research: mediators of treatment outcomes and single-case experimental design methodology. We start by outlining the benefits of studying within-person mechanisms and propose how statistical mediation analysis and single-case methods can be integrated to enable this type of research. Further, we review existing methodology for the study of individual youth treatment mechanisms and provide recommendations for the clinical practice research.

Keywords: Individual mechanisms; Single-case methods; Treatment mediators; Youth interventions.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Child
  • Humans
  • Negotiating / methods
  • Research Design*
  • Treatment Outcome