Child and Adolescent Empirical Psychotherapy Research

This paper reviews child and adolescent psychotherapy research, with a focus on two major theoretical classes of psychotherapies: cognitive-behavior and psychoanalytic psychotherapies. Our interest is particularly drawn to different issues: definition of psychotherapy and research on outcome and process. Specific attention is given developmental issues. We identify the major results and problems and propose methodological strategies for improving psychotherapeutic treatment research for child and adolescent disorders. Some areas that need to be addressed in the future are also discussed, such as the effects of specific techniques, the intensity and duration of treatment outcome and process, the effect of comorbidity, and the relationship between research and clinical practice.