| Abstract: | N. Brody's (see record 1990-12934-001) comment on our meta-analysis (T. G. Bowers and G. A. Clum; see record 1989-16477-001) seems to suggest that the efficacy of behavior therapy has not been established relative to placebo control conditions, especially for "neurotic conditions." The comments appear directed at defending an earlier meta-analysis (Priouleau, Murdock, & Brody, 1983) that concluded that psychotherapy was not more efficacious than a placebo control. We agree with Brody regarding the need for increased use of the heteromethod approach and longer follow-up for psychotherapy studies. However, we do not agree that the 10 studies Brody selected do not support the effectiveness of behavior therapy relative to placebo controls. Although a set of 10 studies is probably too small to allow robust conclusions, we noted a median effect size of .63 for those studies of neurotic conditions, relative to a placebo control. These results were very similar to our overall findings from 69 studies. Furthermore, available follow-up data suggest moderate effect sizes exist for those studies. We also comment on the existence of Type I and Type II errors of inference in reviews and meta-analyses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
