Click here to view handouts from 2010 - 2013 conferences. (Under agenda, then archives)
Click here to view past conference highlights.
Presented at the 18th Annual Research Conference
Download Handouts: 48kb pdf
Session Number: 45 Room: Salon C & D
Presentation Type: symposium
Chair: Ann F. Garland Discussant: Kimberly Hoagwood
Synopsis: Mental health providers face increased pressure to document the outcomes of their services, yet there has been minimal attention to the inherent methodological complexities. For example, there are multiple potential outcome domains (e.g., symptoms, functioning, environment, consumer perspectives, and systems) and multiple potential informants. The goals of this symposium are to: 1) discuss the complexities in measuring outcomes in multiple domains from multiple perspectives; 2) explore the construct of client satisfaction and its relations to clinical outcomes, service entry characteristics, and psychotherapy characteristics;, and 3) examine the impact of usual care psychotherapy on family contextual concerns.
Date: Tuesday, March 8, 2005
Session Time: 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Download Handouts: 50kb pdf
Presenting: Lauren Brookman-Frazee
All Authors for this paper: Lauren Brookman-Frazee; Rachel Haine; Ann Garland
Presentation Type: element of symposium
Synopsis: As service providers are increasingly required to demonstrate program effectiveness and monitor client progress, the measurement of such outcomes has become an important issue for both policy makers and researchers. In this study we examine the complexities in measuring outcomes in usual care psychotherapy services for 111 adolescents receiving publicly funded mental health treatment in San Diego County. The results indicate that there is minimal overlap between youth and parents on individual domains of outcome (e.g. symptoms, functioning, & environment), and almost no overlap for each stakeholder's report across the multiple domains. Results are discussed in terms of the implications for all stakeholders interested in evaluating the impact of usual care mental health services for children and adolescents.
Download Handouts: 54kb pdf
Presenting: Caroline Lewczyk Boxmeyer
All Authors for this paper: Caroline Lewczyk Boxmeyer; Ann Garland
Presentation Type: element of symposium
Synopsis: Despite the critical role of families in youth mental health, few studies have examined the impact of usual care on family contextual concerns. Parent/family outcomes were assessed in 170 families of adolescents (ages 11-18) receiving publicly-funded mental health treatment. High levels of family contextual concerns were observed at intake and six-month follow-up. Significant improvements were observed in caregiver strain and parent-reported family relationship quality, but not in parental depression, social support, or adolescent-reported family relationship quality. Improvements in family contextual concerns were significantly associated with adolescent symptom reduction, underscoring the importance of including parent/family factors in comprehensive outcome measurement.
Download Handouts: 29kb pdf
Presenting: Rachel Haine
All Authors for this paper: Rachel Haine; Ann Garland
Presentation Type: element of symposium
Synopsis: As available fiscal resources in the current healthcare environment become more limited, the demand for providers to document outcomes has increased. Client satisfaction has been viewed as an inexpensive approach to evaluating the effectiveness of mental health services in usual care and is commonly used among public and private healthcare organizations. This study utilizes a sample of 150 youth to examine the extent to which satisfaction is associated with change in symptoms and functional impairment, child/parent/family characteristics at service entry, and psychotherapy characteristics, as well as the proportion of variance in satisfaction accounted for by service entry and psychotherapy characteristics.