Abstract
The current study was designed to describe usual clinical care for youth with primary anxiety problems in community mental health centers. The observer-rated Therapy Process Observational Coding System for Child Psychotherapy – Revised Strategies scale (TPOCS-RS), designed to assess therapeutic techniques from five theory-based domains, was used to code sessions (N = 403) from the usual clinical care group of two randomized effectiveness trials: (a) Youth Anxiety Study (YAS) with 21 youth (M age = 10.44 years, SD = 1.91; 49.2% Latinx; 46.6%, 53.4% male) and 16 clinicians (77.5% female; 43.8% White), and (b) Child STEPS Multisite Trial with 17 youth (M age = 10.00 years, SD = 1.87; 58.8% male; 41.2% White) and 13 clinicians (M age = 40.00 years; SD = 9.18; 76.9% female; 61.5% White). The average number of TPOCS-RS items observed per treatment session was more than 10, and multiple techniques were used together in each session. All TPOCS-RS items were observed at least once throughout a clinical case, and most items reoccurred (i.e., observed in two or more sessions). The dosage of TPOCS-RS in all items was below 5 on a 7-point scale. In conclusion, clinicians in both usual care samples used a wide range of techniques from several theory-based domains at a low to medium dose. However, the type and dosage of the techniques used did vary across the two samples.
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Preparation of this article was supported in part by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health Grant (RO1 MH086529; McLeod & Southam-Gerow).
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McLeod, B.D., Violante, S., Ross, E. et al. The Content of Usual Clinical Care for Youth with Primary Anxiety Problems. Adm Policy Ment Health (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-024-01378-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-024-01378-y