The Hierarchy of Evidence: Single-Case Experimental Designs and CBT Interventions for Anxiety

Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (ACAMH)

DOI: 10.13056/acamh.28984
In this Papers Podcast, Dr. Tom Cawthorne and Professor Roz Shafran discuss their JCPP Advances paper ‘Do single-case experimental designs lead to randomised controlled trials of cognitive behavioural therapy interventions for adolescent anxiety and related disorders recommended in the National Institute of Clinical Excellence guidelines? A systematic review’ (https://doi.org/10.1002/jcv2.12181).
There is an overview of the paper, methodology, key findings, and implications for practice.
Discussion points include:

• How the single-case experimental design (SCED) approach works and insight into the construct of the hierarchy of evidence.
• How the review was conducted and why they focused on adolescent anxiety.
• Adolescents as an under-researched population and the practical challenges around the SCED design.
• The evidence that the SCED design can be a helpful approach and can provide high-quality research evidence.
• The implications for researchers and research policymakers as well as CAMH professionals.
• Could using SCEDs more effectively lead to future NICE guidelines better representing the adolescent population?
• The recommendations that emerge from the paper.

In this series, we speak to authors of papers published in one of ACAMH’s three journals. These are The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry (JCPP); The Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMH) journal; and JCPP Advances.
#ListenLearnLike