title: The efficacy of psychological, educational, and behavioral treatment. Confirmation from meta-analysis.
abstract: Conventional reviews of research on the efficacy of psychological, educational, and behavioral treatments often find considerable variation in outcome among studies and, as a consequence, fail to reach firm conclusions about the overall effectiveness of the interventions in question. In contrast meta-analytic reviews show a strong, dramatic pattern of positive overall effects that cannot readily be explained as artifacts of meta-analytic technique or generalized placebo effects. Moreover, the effects are not so small that they can be dismissed as lacking practical or clinical significance. Although meta-analysis has limitations, there are good reasons to believe that its results are more credible than those of conventional reviews and to conclude that well-developed psychological, educational, and behavioral treatment is generally efficacious.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Resources, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37203.
authors.forename: M W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Lipsey
authors.forename: D B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Wilson
mesh_terms: D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D015201:Meta-Analysis as Topic; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome