Research on psychotherapy with children and adolescents: an overview of evolving trends and current issues

Abstract

We present a broad overview of research on psychotherapy with children and adolescents, with a focus on dimensions along which progress has been made over the past 35 years. Research in this area has been increasingly characterized by the utilization of a greater variety of and more focused and better specified interventions, with increasingly homogenous samples of clients or patients, using methodologically more stringent approaches. The general consensus in the field is that psychotherapy is effective with younger age groups, as compared to no treatment. However, such a conclusion has to be qualified because of the dearth of studies on clinically referred youths, traditional therapies, and modes of treatment other than individual therapy. Several other issues also require further attention in research, including the need for more comprehensive or novel conceptualizations of juvenile-onset psychopathology to inform treatment efforts. Consideration also should be given to having parents more consistently involved in their children's therapy, integrating the developmental literature and the design of new interventions, and developing and testing therapies for youths with special needs.