Does the STIC measurement and feedback system improve multisystemic outcomes in individual, couple and family therapy? A randomized clinical trial

Abstract

Objective: In a randomized clinical trial, we evaluated whether the STIC (Systemic Therapy Inventory of Change) measurement and feedback system (MFS), the first MFS to explicitly integrate the family systems perspective, improved outcomes in individual, couple and family therapy.

Method: Nine hundred and seventy clients seeking individual, couple or family therapy, entered therapy with 93 therapists at four sites in the Chicago metropolitan area. All therapists were trained with the STIC and participated in both Treatment as Usual (TAU) and TAU with the STIC (STIC). After agreeing to participate, clients were randomly assigned to TAU or STIC. Therapists did not know the condition to which a case was assigned, until just prior to the first session. Therapy was not time-limited or constrained, except for the use of the STIC in the STIC condition. All clients were evaluated on a non-STIC multi-systemic battery of widely used outcome measures pre-and-post therapy.

Results: STIC clients improved more than TAU clients regardless of treatment modality or outcome measure. Clinically significant change was also greater for STIC than TAU clients across outcome measures.

Conclusion: The STIC MFS holds promise for improving outcomes beyond TAU in individual, couple, and family therapy.

Keywords: couple and family therapy; feedback-outcome research; patient-focused research; randomized clinical trial.