Content Analysis of Child and Adolescent Counseling Outcome Studies in Counseling Journals

Abstract

ABSTRACT This content analysis provides an overview of articles specific to outcome-based research on children and adolescents in the counseling field published in the American Counseling Association (ACA), American School Counselor Association (ASCA), and American Mental Health Counseling Associated (AMHCA) affiliated journals between the years 2012 and 2021. Results indicated that minimal articles (133 articles or 3.11%) were outcome research examining efficacy of counseling interventions across community and school settings with most of interventions being evidence-based and group-based, and the target outcome being prosocial behavior. Of 133 articles, Journal of Child and Adolescent Counseling is the most prevalent journal that published outcome research with children and adolescents (18.45%), followed by Journal of Specialist in Group Work (12.97%), and Professional School Counseling (7.04%). The paper concludes with a discussion of limitations and recommendations for future research.