Testing the Effectiveness of Family Therapeutic Assessment: A Case Study Using a Time-Series Design

Abstract

We describe a family Therapeutic Assessment (TA) case study employing 2 assessors, 2 assessment rooms, and a video link. In the study, we employed a daily measures time-series design with a pretreatment baseline and follow-up period to examine the family TA treatment model. In addition to being an illustrative addition to a number of clinical reports suggesting the efficacy of family TA, this study is the first to apply a case-based time-series design to test whether family TA leads to clinical improvement and also illustrates when that improvement occurs. Results support the trajectory of change proposed by Finn (2007), the TA model's creator, who posits that benefits continue beyond the formal treatment itself.

Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Stephen E. Finn and the Center for Therapeutic Assessment in Austin, Texas, for a research grant in support of this project.

Notes

¹All names and other potentially identifying information have been changed to sufficiently disguise the family's identity. Additionally, the family gave the authors permission to write about their experience in de-identified form.

²The term phase in this article refers to divisions in the time-series data stream.

³Unforeseen circumstances resulted in two rescheduled appointments. One meeting was rescheduled due to the absence of the assessors, who were attending a professional conference, and a second appointment was rescheduled because the family could not procure child care for Jeff's sister.

⁴The psychological test instruments presented in the family TA case study were not used as measures of treatment effectiveness or outcome of the research design because they are a standard component of the family TA model, with the exception of the BASC–2 baseline administration.

∗p < .10.

∗∗p < .05.

∗p < .05.

∗∗p < .001.