A new scale for assessing the quality of randomized clinical trials of psychotherapy

ContextIn 2004, the American Psychiatric Association's Committee on Research on Psychiatric Treatments appointed a subcommittee to investigate the status of empirical evidence with regard to psychodynamic psychotherapy.ObjectiveAs a part of this effort, the committee developed a rating scale designed to assess the quality of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of psychotherapy.Data SourcesA 25-item RCT of Psychotherapy Quality Rating Scale was generated by expert consensus. Interrater reliability, internal consistency, and validity testing were undertaken using 7 trained raters.Study SelectionA PubMed search was conducted to locate all RCTs of psychotherapies identified by their authors as being “psychodynamic” or “psychoanalytic” in origin and implementation.Data ExtractionA total of 69 RCTs were independently rated by 2 raters.Data SynthesisThe scale was found to have good interrater reliability (total score intraclass correlation = 0.76), internal consistency (Cronbach α = .87), and external validity.ConclusionsThis scale establishes a new standard for the design and execution of psychotherapy RCTs and provides a systematic empirical method for evaluating the quality of published RCTs.