Intervention research in social work: Recent advances and continuing challenges

The purpose of this article is to review substantive and methodological advances in interventive research. Three substantive advances are discussed: (a) the growing use of a risk factor perspective, (b) the emergence of practice-relevant microsocial theories, and (c) the increased acceptance of structured treatment protocols and manual. In addition, three methodological developments are discussed. They include new developments for dealing with attrition, for dealing with selection effects, and for decomposing complexities using text and numerical analyses. Arguing that intervention research holds the potential to unify research scholarship in social work, the conclusion discusses ongoing challenges associated with the implementation of new programs, variance in outcomes by method, reactivity to measurement, and construct validity in the context of culture.