Evaluating the effectiveness of interventions in child psychiatry.
OBJECTIVE
To review the nature of outcome measures used to evaluate psychosocial treatment in children.


METHODS
Recent research findings that highlight the importance of outcome data and justify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are reviewed.


RESULTS
Outcome measures of child therapy can focus on changes in the child's symptoms, adaptation to the psychosocial environment, cognitive or emotional capacities, and changes in interaction with others. They can also assess service utilization, related costs, and the suffering of those associated with the child before and after treatment. RCTs remain the optimal methodology, notwithstanding current critiques.


CONCLUSIONS
Studies assessing the effectiveness of psychosocial treatment must include a definition of various outcomes and use appropriate methodologies to measure them.
Fonagy
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Sub-Department of Clinical Health Psychology, University College London, United Kingdom.
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D011613:Psychotherapy; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D016896:Treatment Outcome