Research Designs

Introduction

Scientific research involves the systematic investigation of events of interest so as to increase our understanding of those events. As applied to cognitive behavior therapy and behavior modification with children and adolescents, scientific research often consists of inquiry that improves our knowledge of childhood psychopathology and the variables that impact the development, maintenance, and treatment of disordered behavior. To conduct research in a rigorous way, investigators use specific methods of selecting participants, arranging experimental conditions, and gathering and analyzing data. These methods are referred to as research designs. Various experimental, quasi-experimental, and correlational designs are used in research on child behavior modification and cognitive behavior therapy. Selection of an appropriate design depends on several variables, including the goals of research, the topic under investigation, characteristics of participants such as age, ethical and practical considerations, and a host of other factors. Prior to discussing some of the specific designs that are most commonly used when conducting research on cognitive behavior therapy and behavior modification with children and adolescents, information about the goals and categories of research is presented.

Goals of Research

Scientific inquiry can occur for many different reasons. The design that one selects depends on the goal of conducting the research. In this section, the goals of research in the context of conducting investigations on cognitive behavior therapy and/or behavior modification with children are discussed. Psychological research focused on other issues will likely have other goals, which are beyond the scope of this entry.

One common goal of psychological research on cognitive behavior therapy and behavior modification is to identify treatments that work for specific disordered behavior and emotion patterns. In other words, it is important to document that a particular treatment is effective in ameliorating a specific problematic response, as compared to no treatment. As a related goal, investigators are often interested in determining the number/percentage of youngsters with a given problem who respond positively to a specific intervention. Accomplishing this goal is important in improving the understanding of the likelihood of treatment effectiveness for any given patient, which has important clinical implications. For example, if researchers determine that only 25% of a given population of children with a particular disorder respond positively to an intervention, then clinicians may not wish to devote a large amount of time to learning and then implementing the approach, particularly if there are other interventions that have been proven to be effective for a larger percentage of the population.

Third, researchers are often interested in determining which intervention is most effective with a given clinical population. To accomplish this goal, researchers can compare the impact of two or more types of treatment for a clinical problem and determine which produces the best outcomes. For example, investigators may wish to compare the use of exposure-based treatment, medication, and a combination of exposure-based treatment and medication to treat social phobia in adolescents. Fourth, investigation of the variables that influence the effectiveness of treatment is important. Evaluating the variables that impact treatment—such as age of the youngster, comorbid problems, or family involvement, to name a few—helps clinicians determine whether optimal conditions exist to use a particular intervention with a client.[Page 994]Fifth, researchers might be interested in investigating the mechanisms that produce change as part of a treatment. Because treatments for psychological conditions typically include multiple components, investigators may wish to determine which treatment components are the most essential to success in order to streamline the intervention. Doing so can increase the cost effectiveness of intervention. Studies attempting to accomplish this goal are often referred to as dismantling studies, whereby individual components of a treatment package are isolated and their relative influence on the clinical problems is determined.

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