Discredited Assessment and Treatment Methods Used with Children and Adolescents: A Delphi Poll

Abstract

In the context of intense interest in identifying what works in mental health, we sought to establish a consensus on what doesnot work—discredited psychological assessments and treatments used with children and adolescents. Applying a Delphi methodology, we engaged a panel of 139 experts to participate in a two-stage survey. Participants reported their familiarity with 67 treatments and 35 assessment techniques and rated each on a continuum from not at all discredited to certainly discredited. The composite results suggest considerable convergence in what is considered discredited and offer a first step in identifying discredited procedures in modern mental health practice for children and adolescents. It may prove as useful and easier to identify what does not work for youth as it is to identify what does work—as in evidence-based practice compilations. In either case, we can simultaneously avoid consensually identified discredited practices to eradicate what does not work and use inclusively defined evidence-based practices to promote what does work.