Outcome of solution-focused brief therapy among adolescents : Reliable and clinically significant changes

Abstract

To date, outcome research has revealed that Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) is an effective intervention model when working with adolescents experiencing various conditions and problems. However, most studies apply 'traditional' analysis comparing degree of changes between experimental and control/comparison groups. While in the psychotherapy literature the shift towards statistical methods that allow estimating the benefits of the therapy at the individual level can be seen. The most popular method of determining reliable and clinically significant change (RCSC) proposed by Jacobson and Truax (1991) summarizes changes at the level of the individual in the context of observed changes for the whole sample. The aim of current study was to evaluate the outcome of SFBT among adolescents revealing reliability and clinical significance of changes of behavior and physical condition difficulties. Methods: Behavior and physical condition difficulties of 27 adolescents (12-18 years) in primary mental health care setting were evaluated using Standardized Interview for the Evaluation of Adolescents Problems before and after 5 sessions of SFBT. Normative data of 646 adolescents from secondary schools was used. Results: 'Traditional' between-group comparisons revealed that number of behavior and physical condition difficulties decreased significantly after SFBT. Analysis applying Jacobson and Truax method demonstrated that fairly sufficient percent of SFBT clients showed reliable improvement and clinically significant change. Conclusions: Findings of the study are in line with those evaluating reliable and clinically significant changes of other psychotherapy models among adolescents. The conclusion can be drawn that SFBT is an effective model for adolescents when studying group as well as individual levels.