Evaluating the Effectiveness of Teaching Evidence-Based Common Elements

• Main Author: Barlaan, Devin
• Language: EN
• Published: Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville 2017
• Subjects: Clinical psychology
• Online Access: http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10276614

<p> The field of psychology has made large strides in evaluating and disseminating evidence-based treatments (EBTs), as well as refuting harmful pseudoscientific treatments, for various childhood mental health disorders. EBTs that meet the gold standard of a well-established treatment provide supportive evidence of treatment effectiveness. However, there are notable limitations to these criteria, particularly in regards to manualization and feasibility. A solution is to use a common elements approach to service delivery, such that the fundamental skills or practices within treatment programs can be used to effectively target treatment goals. As this approach is evolving in the field, it is imperative that future clinicians and researchers are versed in understanding evidence-based common elements (EBCEs) and unsupported elements. The current study examines the impact of teaching undergraduate students EBCEs and uncommon elements across three randomly assigned conditions. Results indicated that students who learned about EBCEs rated EBCEs more effectively post manipulation and students who learned about uncommon elements rated uncommon elements less effectively post manipulation. The results are consistent with previous findings and underscore the importance of educating students on effective and ineffective treatments (Jones-Soto, 2015, unpublished; Hupp et al., 2013). Implications and future directions are discussed.</p><p>