The development and assessment of valid measures of service delivery to enhance inference in outcome-based research: measuring attendance at self-help group meetings.
The article focuses on the validity of measures of service delivery; any attempt to establish a linkage between service and outcomes follows the assumption that services have been given and received. Claims relating to the benefits of attending self-help groups on the mental health functioning of individuals with depression or manic depression were examined in the context of a well-controlled study and a validated measure of individual attendance. A test was conducted to probe the conjecture that the greater the degree of involvement in self-help groups, the greater the improvement in functioning. Additional questions related to individual patterns of attendance, generalization of the intervention's effects, and migration from "home" to other meeting sites.
Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48106.
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Yeaton
D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000592:standards*; D011613:Psychotherapy; D012657:Self-Help Groups