Abstract
The role of behavior observation in theory-driven prevention intervention trials is examined. A model is presented to guide choice of strategies for the measurement of five core elements in theoretically informed, randomized prevention trials: (1) training intervention agents, (2) delivery of key intervention conditions by intervention agents, (3) responses of clients to intervention conditions, (4) short-term risk reduction in targeted client behaviors, and (5) long-term change in client adjustment. It is argued that the social processes typically thought to mediate interventionist training (Element 1) and the efficacy of psychosocial interventions (Elements 2 and 3) may be powerfully captured by behavior observation. It is also argued that behavior observation has advantages in the measurement of short-term change (Element 4) engendered by intervention, including sensitivity to behavior change and blinding to intervention status.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 43-56 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Prevention Science |
| Volume | 7 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 2006 |
Funding
This report is a result of a collaborative effort by members of the Workgroup for the Analysis of Observational Data (WODA), supported in part by grants 3P30 MH46690-13S1, R01 MH 57342, R01 MH40859, MH59855, R01 DA015409, and T32 MH18911.
Keywords
- Behavior observation
- Mediators
- Prevention trials
- Short-term outcomes
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health