Heterogeneity of Treatment Outcomes Across Therapists and Sites in a Randomized Multicentre Psychotherapy Trial

Fuente: Wiley Open Access
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jonas Petter, Lea Schumacher, Jette Echterhoff, Jan Philipp Klein, Elisabeth Schramm, Martin Härter, Martin Hautzinger, Levente Kriston
Format: Artículo Open Access
Published: Wiley 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1867005839632498688
author Jonas Petter
Lea Schumacher
Jette Echterhoff
Jan Philipp Klein
Elisabeth Schramm
Martin Härter
Martin Hautzinger
Levente Kriston
author_facet Jonas Petter
Lea Schumacher
Jette Echterhoff
Jan Philipp Klein
Elisabeth Schramm
Martin Härter
Martin Hautzinger
Levente Kriston
Jonas Petter
Lea Schumacher
Jette Echterhoff
Jan Philipp Klein
Elisabeth Schramm
Martin Härter
Martin Hautzinger
Levente Kriston
collection Wiley Open Access
contents Heterogeneity of Treatment Outcomes Across Therapists and Sites in a Randomized Multicentre Psychotherapy Trial Jonas Petter Lea Schumacher Jette Echterhoff Jan Philipp Klein Elisabeth Schramm Martin Härter Martin Hautzinger Levente Kriston Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy ABSTRACT Objective Establishing robust evidence for psychotherapeutic treatment efficacy is crucial in evidence‐based medicine for mental disorders. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are key to minimizing biases such as selection effects and baseline imbalances between study groups. However, another challenge to robust evidence in psychotherapy research is heterogeneity in treatment outcomes due to therapists and clinical sites. While this has been frequently observed in naturalistic settings, therapist‐ and site‐related heterogeneity in treatment outcomes has been understudied in RCTs. Method The present study addresses this gap in a secondary data analysis, examining how therapists and clinical sites differ in treatment outcomes and differential/average treatment effect (i.e., outcome differences between treatment groups) within a large, multicentre RCT. We analysed data from 255 patients with chronic depression treated by 79 therapists in nine study sites, that received two different active psychotherapeutic interventions. Results Therapist‐ and site‐related variances in treatment outcomes appeared relatively small, accounting for 1.1% [0.0%, 8.1%] and 1.7% [0.0%, 9.9%] of the total variance, respectively. Notably, site‐related variance in differential treatment effects appeared relatively larger at 12.5% [0.1%, 44.4%]. These variances were only partially explained by patient or therapist characteristics. Conclusion While the sample size only allowed to estimate the variance contributions of therapists and sites with high uncertainty, the relative size comparison points to the importance of considering site heterogeneity in evaluating RCTs' differential treatment effects. Further research on site characteristics' impact could enhance understanding of psychotherapeutic treatment efficacy across diverse contexts. 10.1002/cpp.70087 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
doi_str_mv 10.1002/cpp.70087
format Artículo Open Access
id wiley_oa_10_1002_cpp_70087
institution Wiley Open Access
license_str_mv http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
publishDate 2025
publisher Wiley
record_format wiley_oa
spellingShingle Heterogeneity of Treatment Outcomes Across Therapists and Sites in a Randomized Multicentre Psychotherapy Trial
Jonas Petter
Lea Schumacher
Jette Echterhoff
Jan Philipp Klein
Elisabeth Schramm
Martin Härter
Martin Hautzinger
Levente Kriston
Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy
Heterogeneity of Treatment Outcomes Across Therapists and Sites in a Randomized Multicentre Psychotherapy Trial Jonas Petter Lea Schumacher Jette Echterhoff Jan Philipp Klein Elisabeth Schramm Martin Härter Martin Hautzinger Levente Kriston Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy ABSTRACT Objective Establishing robust evidence for psychotherapeutic treatment efficacy is crucial in evidence‐based medicine for mental disorders. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are key to minimizing biases such as selection effects and baseline imbalances between study groups. However, another challenge to robust evidence in psychotherapy research is heterogeneity in treatment outcomes due to therapists and clinical sites. While this has been frequently observed in naturalistic settings, therapist‐ and site‐related heterogeneity in treatment outcomes has been understudied in RCTs. Method The present study addresses this gap in a secondary data analysis, examining how therapists and clinical sites differ in treatment outcomes and differential/average treatment effect (i.e., outcome differences between treatment groups) within a large, multicentre RCT. We analysed data from 255 patients with chronic depression treated by 79 therapists in nine study sites, that received two different active psychotherapeutic interventions. Results Therapist‐ and site‐related variances in treatment outcomes appeared relatively small, accounting for 1.1% [0.0%, 8.1%] and 1.7% [0.0%, 9.9%] of the total variance, respectively. Notably, site‐related variance in differential treatment effects appeared relatively larger at 12.5% [0.1%, 44.4%]. These variances were only partially explained by patient or therapist characteristics. Conclusion While the sample size only allowed to estimate the variance contributions of therapists and sites with high uncertainty, the relative size comparison points to the importance of considering site heterogeneity in evaluating RCTs' differential treatment effects. Further research on site characteristics' impact could enhance understanding of psychotherapeutic treatment efficacy across diverse contexts. 10.1002/cpp.70087 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Heterogeneity of Treatment Outcomes Across Therapists and Sites in a Randomized Multicentre Psychotherapy Trial
topic Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy
url https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cpp.70087