Randomized Control Group Design Research Articles

Social Stories: Mechanisms of Effectiveness in Increasing Game Play Skills in Children Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder Using a Pretest Posttest Repeated Measures Randomized Control Group Design

An increasing body of literature has indicated that social stories are an effective way to teach individuals diagnosed with autism appropriate social behavior. This study compared two formats of a social story targeting the improvement of social skills during game play using a pretest posttest repeated measures randomized control group design. A total of 45 children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) ages 7-14 were randomly assigned to standard, directive, or control story conditions. Results demonstrated that the standard and directive story formats were equally as effective in eliciting, generalizing and maintaining the targeted social skills in participants who had prior game play experience and Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI) scores from the WISC-IV intelligence test in the borderline range or above.

The Psychotherapeutic Effects of the Logo Technique in Booting Adolescents' Relational Behaviour.

The present study investigated the effective utilization of the Logo-Therapeutic strategy in the improvement of Adolescents relational behaviours. The study is a randomised 2x2 pre-test, posMest and control group design. Sixty adolescent subjects participated in the intervention programme with age range between 13 and 23 years while their mean age was 15.73 years. The Analysia of Convariance (ANCOVA) was the major statistical procedure usesd at the alpha level of 0.05. The findings of the two predicted null hypotheses skowed that the treatment group was more effective than the control group with the critical value as df = 3/116 = 2068; (p. 0.05). The male subjects also demonstrated better treatment gains than the female subjects. The findings which was statistically significant showed the critical value to be df = 7/52 = 2.18; (p. 0.05). The Nigerian Journal Of Guidance And Counselling Vol. 7 (1) 2000: pp. 69-80

The Effects of Hope Intervention on Hope and Depression of Cancer Patients Staying at Home

This study was to identify the effects of hope intervention on hope and depression of cancer patients staying at home. The study design was a randomized control group design. The subjects consisted of forty cancer patients randomly selected who were registered at S-Gu Public Health Center. Hope intervention, which was composed of hope assessment, hope objective setting, positive self identity formation, therapeutic relationships, spiritual & transcendental process improvement, positive environmental formation and hope evaluation, was provided from November 20, 2006 to January 26, 2007. The 1-1 hypothesis, "The experimental group which received hope intervention will have a higher score of hope than the control group", was supported(t=-3.253, p= .003). The 1-2 hypothesis, "The experimental group which received hope intervention will have a higher level of hope index than the control group", was supported (t=-4.001, p= .000). Therefore the 1st hypothesis, "The experimental group which received hope intervention will have a higher level of hope than the control group" was supported. The 2nd hypothesis, "The experimental group which received hope intervention will have a lower level of depression than the control group", was not supported (t=1.872, p= .070). Hope intervention is an effective nursing intervention to enhance hope for patient with cancer.

Impact of an Entertainment-Education Television Drama on Health Knowledge and Behavior in Bangladesh: An Application of Propensity Score Matching

Shabuj Chaya is a weekly television drama broadcast during a 13-week period in Bangladesh in 2000. It used an entertainment-education format to increase health knowledge and to promote visits to health clinic and modern contraceptive use. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how a relatively new statistical technique, propensity score matching in conjunction with structural equation modeling, can be used to obtain an unbiased estimate of changes in health outcomes that can be attributed to exposure to the drama. The analysis is conducted with data from an after-only, cross-sectional survey of 4,492 men and women from the intended audience. The results from propensity score matching approximate what would be expected from a randomized control group design. Both the television drama and the evaluation research upon which this article is based were made possible by funding from the United States Agency for International Development. We also acknowledge the valuable contributions and support provided by Mohammad Shahjahan, the director of the Bangladesh Center for Communication Programs, which produced the television drama, Shabuj Chaya; Dr. Humayun Ahmed, who wrote the drama; Esta de Fossard, script and production advisor; Edson Whitney, head of the Asia Division; Shana Yansen, program officer of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Center for Communication Programs; and Org-Marg Quest, the market research agency in Bangladesh that collected the survey data that was used for the secondary analysis presented in this article.

Multivariate Causal Attribution and Cost-Effectiveness of a National Mass Media Campaign in the Philippines

Cost-effectiveness analysis is based on a simple formula. A dollar estimate of the total cost to conduct a program is divided by the number of people estimated to have been affected by it in terms of some intended outcome. The direct, total costs of most communication campaigns are usually available. Estimating the amount of effect that can be attributed to the communication alone, however is problematical in full-coverage, mass media campaigns where the randomized control group design is not feasible. Single-equation, multiple regression analysis controls for confounding variables but does not adequately address the issue of causal attribution. In this article, multivariate causal attribution (MCA) methods are applied to data from a sample survey of 1,516 married women in the Philippines to obtain a valid measure of the number of new adopters of modern contraceptives that can be causally attributed to a national mass media campaign and to calculate its cost-effectiveness. The MCA analysis uses structural equation modeling to test the causal pathways and to test for endogeneity, biprobit analysis to test for direct effects of the campaign and endogeneity, and propensity score matching to create a statistically equivalent, matched control group that approximates the results that would have been obtained from a randomized control group design. The MCA results support the conclusion that the observed, 6.4 percentage point increase in modern contraceptive use can be attributed to the national mass media campaign and to its indirect effects on attitudes toward contraceptives. This net increase represented 348,695 new adopters in the population of married women at a cost of U.S. $1.57 per new adopter.

Unterscheiden sich die Effekte stationärer arbeits- und ergotherapeutischer Maßnahmen? - Ergebnisse einer kontrollierten Multizenterstudie des Kompetenznetzes Schizophrenie

For some decades, vocational therapy approaches have been an integral part of inpatient psychiatric treatment of patients with schizophrenia. Like most sociotherapeutic measures, they are largely hypothesis-based. So far, their effectiveness has been subjected to very little scientific scrutiny. The results of a multicenter study in which five vocational therapy models were compared with creativity-oriented ergotherapy in a prospective, randomized control group design are presented. Target criteria were job-relevant skills, psychopathology, general level of functioning, quality of life, self-efficacy, and speed of cognitive performance. 227 patients were enrolled in the study, which was carried out within the framework of the German Research Network on Schizophrenia funded by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF). Multicenter analyses in a pre-post comparison revealed only minimum differences between the experimental and the control group over a four-week intervention period. Job-oriented approaches cannot currently be assumed to be superior to creativity-oriented ergotherapy.

Long‐Term Outcomes of a Telephone Intervention After an ICD

The purpose of this study was to determine the long-term benefits of participating in a structured, 8-week educational telephone intervention delivered by expert cardiovascular nurses post-ICD. The intervention was aimed to (1) increase physical functioning, (2) increase psychological adjustment, (3) improve self-efficacy in managing the challenges of ICD recovery, and (4) lower levels of health care utilization over usual care in the first 12 months post-ICD. This article reports on the 6- and 12-month outcomes of the nursing intervention trial. A two-group (N = 168) randomized control group design was used to evaluate intervention efficacy with persons receiving an ICD for the secondary prevention of sudden cardiac arrest. Measures were obtained at baseline, 6 and 12 months post hospitalization. Outcomes included (1) physical functioning (Patient Concerns Assessment [PCA], Short Form Health Survey [SF-12], ICD shocks), (2) psychological adjustment (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory [STAI], Centers for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression [CES-D], fear of dying), (3) self-efficacy (Sudden Cardiac Arrest-Self-Efficacy [SCA-SE], Sudden Cardiac Arrest-Behavior [SCA-B], Sudden Cardiac Arrest-Knowledge [SCA-K]), and (4) health care utilization (emergency room [ER] visits, outpatient visits, hospitalizations). Using repeated measures ANOVA, the 6- and 12-month benefits of the intervention over usual care were in reductions in physical concerns (P = 0.006), anxiety (P = 0.04), and fear of dying (P = 0.01), with enhanced self-confidence (P = 0.04) and knowledge (P = 0.001) to manage ICD recovery. There were no statistically significant differences between the groups on total outpatient visits, hospitalizations, or ER visits over 12 months. A structured 8-week post-hospital telephone nursing intervention after an ICD had sustained 12-month improvements on patient concerns, anxiety, fear of dying, self-efficacy, and knowledge. Results may not apply to individuals with congestive heart failure who receive an ICD for primary prevention of sudden cardiac arrest.

The Parent-Adolescent Relationship Education (PARE) Program: A Curriculum for Prevention of STDs and Pregnancy in Middle School Youth

The Parent-Adolescent Relationship Education (PARE) Program, designed for parents and middle school students, focuses on strengthening family communication about sexual issues and behaviors to help prevent teen pregnancy, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). The program includes content about reproduction, STDs and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), contraception, sex risks, and safe-sex behaviors. The course uses social learning and cognitive behavioral concepts to enhance decision-making, refusal, and resistance skills. A randomized treatment or control group design is used to assign parent-child dyads to an experimental education group (social learning) or an attention-control group (traditional didactic teaching). Three post-program maintenance or booster sessions are held at 6-month intervals and at times prior to peak teen conception periods to reinforce the knowledge and skills learned. Pre- and posttests for parents and students assess group differences in parental involvement and communication, contraception, sex attitudes and intentions, sex behaviors (initiation of sexual intercourse, frequency, number of partners, contraceptive practices, refusal skills), and the incidence of pregnancy.

The management of chronic tinnitus—Comparison of a cognitive-behavioural group training with yoga

Two non-medical treatment strategies for chronic idiopathic tinnitus were evaluated in a randomized control group design. A cognitive- behavioural tinnitus coping training (TCT) was developed and compared to yoga and a self-monitoring control condition. Forty-three chronic tinnitus patients, were assessed at baseline, directly after therapy, and at 3 months follow-up. For evaluation, differential psychoacoustic variables were registered, a tinnitus diary as well as the Tinnitus Questionnaire and different measures of general well-being were used. Statistical analyses showed effects favouring the TCT treatment in comparison to the control and yoga treatment. The TCT-treated patients reported more satisfaction with the training than the yoga group. Participants in the self-monitoring control group were treated either by TCT or yoga after a waiting period. The outcome in this group was even better than in the experimental groups while yoga again showed rather poor effects.

Psychological and social effects of orthodontic treatment

Adolescents with commonly occurring forms of malocclusion often are presumed to be at risk for negative self-esteem and social maladjustment. A randomized control group design was used to assess the psychosocial effects of orthodontic treatment for esthetic impairment. Ninety-three participants, 11 to 14 years old, with mild to moderate malocclusions, were randomly assigned to receive orthodontic treatment immediately or after serving as delayed controls. A battery of psychological and social measures was administered before treatment, during treatment, and three times after completion of treatment, the last occurring one year after termination. Repeated measures analyses of variance assessed group differences at the five time points. Parent-, peer-, and self-evaluations of dental-facial attractiveness significantly improved after treatment, but treatment did not affect parent- and self-reported social competency or social goals, nor subjects' self-esteem. In summary, dental-specific evaluations appear to be influenced by treatment, while more general psychosocial responses are not.

When Total Randomization Is Impossible

This article describes the design of the evaluation of Healthy for Life (HFL), an adolescent health promotion project involving students in 21 middle schools in Wisconsin. The original design was a blocked random assignment of 21 schools to one of three conditions. However, most of the interested schools could not accommodate the random design. A two-step alternative procedure allowed schools to select one of two treatment conditions, with random assignment to the control condition from either treatment condition. This randomized control group design nested within two self-selected treatment options is a viable alternative to total randomization.

The Differential Treatment Model

The interaction of offender type by treatment program was examined within a randomized control group design involving the assignment of 100 adult offenders with alcohol and drug problems to an intensive eight-week group therapy program, and 50 to routine institutional care. Two types of adult offenders were empirically identified by a clustering procedure using eleven personality measures. Although neither group treatment nor offender-type had a significant main effect on three measures of recidivism at one year following release, there was evidence of a treatment by offender-type interaction on two of the recidivism measures. Offenders who were classified high in self-image showed greater improvement in the group therapy program (i.e., fewer reconvictions, and lower reconvicted offense severity), while offenders who were low in self-image did more poorly in group therapy than under institutional care. The results are discussed in terms of the need to develop differential treatment models in the design of correctional programming for adult offenders.