Assessment of outcome in psychological therapy

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This article deals with the particular issue of assessment in clinical outcome research. For more general review of issues in the area see Outcome in clinical psychology

The study of the outcome of clinical interventions is an important area of clinical research.

Outcome criteria

• symptomatic improvement

• Extrapersonal improvements
  • Improvement in social functioning
  • Improvement in current personal relationships
  • Improved work performance
  • Improvement in quality of life

• Intrapersonal improvements
  • Improved impulse control

Routine outcome measurement

Modes of Measurement of clinical outcome

• Client self ratings
• SUDS
• Therapist ratings
• Questionaires
  • CORE
  • HONOS
  • Outcome Questionaire

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Key texts

Books

• Maruish, M. (ed.) (1994) The use of psychological testing for treatment planning and

outcome assessment. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum

Papers

• Fitzpatrick, F., Davey, C., Buxton, M., and Jones, D. (1998) Evaluating patient-based outcome measures for use in clinical trials. Health Technology Assessment, 2, 14

Additional material

Papers

• Google Scholar