Modular psychotherapy with children and adolescents

Abstract

The implementation of evidence-based psychotherapy with children and adolescents has been limited so far. This is mainly due to the fact that patients in service settings tend to have higher rates of comorbidities and more frequently changing therapy needs than those in research settings. Thus, modular psychotherapies are promising, as they allow the treatment protocol to be adapted to patients’ individual needs. Because no review on modular psychotherapy for children and adolescents exists, we conducted a systematic literature research. The results of the 15 randomized controlled trials identified demonstrate that modular psychotherapy is associated with significant reductions in symptom levels as well as with higher rates of diagnostic remission compared to control conditions. Because of the lack of evidence, future studies should investigate the incremental efficacy of modular approaches and test the validity of underlying theoretical models as well as of decision flowcharts. Modular psychotherapy approaches have the potential to personalize evidence-based interventions for children and adolescents across various therapeutical traditions, and to facilitate their implementation into clinical practice.