Moderators and Mediators of Youth Treatment Outcomes

The study of moderation and mediation of youth treatment outcomes has been recognized as enormously beneficial in recent years. However, these benefits have never been fully documented or understood by researchers, clinicians, and students in training. After nearly 50 years of youth treatment outcome research, identifying moderators and mediators is the natural next step-shifting focus to mechanisms responsible for improved outcomes, identifying youth who will benefit from certain treatments or who are in need of alternative treatments, and recognizing the challenges associated with the study of moderators and mediators and their routine use in clinical practice.

Moderators and Mediators of Youth Treatment Outcomes examines conceptual and methodological challenges related to the study of moderation and mediation and illustrates potential treatment moderators and mediators for specific disorders. The volume also considers empirical evidence for treatment moderators and mediators of specific disorders and illustrates how theoretical and empirical knowledge regarding moderators and mediators can be harnessed and disseminated to clinical practice. This book will be invaluable to researchers conducting treatment outcome studies (both efficacy and effectiveness), clinicians interested in evidence-based work and in understanding for whom and why certain treatments work, and students of clinical child and adolescent psychology and psychiatry.

Marija Maric, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Clinical Developmental Psychology in the Department of Developmental Psychology at the University of Amsterdam (The Netherlands). Dr. Maric conducts studies on moderation and mediation in the area of youth anxiety disorders and youth with comorbid anxiety disorders and ADHD. Dr. Maric also works as a cognitive behavior therapist at UvA Minds, an Academic Treatment Center for Children and Parents.

Pier J.M. Prins, PhD, is Professor of Clinical Child Psychology in the Department of Developmental Psychology at the University of Amsterdam (The Netherlands). Over the past decade he has been involved in several large-scale, multi-site treatment-outcome projects dealing with childhood social problems, ADHD, and anxiety problems. He is also a licensed child cognitive behavior therapist.

Thomas H. Ollendick, PhD, is University Distinguished Professor in Clinical Psychology and Director of the Child Study Center at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. He is founding and current Co-Editor ofClinical Child and Family Psychology Review. The recipient of several NIMH grants, his clinical and research interests range from the study of diverse forms of child psychopathology to the assessment, treatment, and prevention of these child disorders from a social learning/social cognitive theory perspective.