Attitudes of Psychotherapists Toward Outcome Measures and Routine Outcome Monitoring in Child and Youth Psychotherapy

Objective: In this observational study, we investigated which therapeutic characteristics affect the attitudes of psychotherapists working with children and adolescents toward Outcome (OM) and Routine Outcome Monitoring (ROM), and how implementation is affected by previous experience and attitudes toward administering OM/ROM. Methods: We assessed the attitudes of licensed German psychotherapists and psychotherapists in training working with children and adolescents toward the OM/ROM in an online survey conducted between June 2023 and March 2024 (N = 126). Results: Compared with psychoanalytic-oriented therapists, therapists with an orientation in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) presented more positive attitudes, but we found no significant difference between orientations in CBT and psychodynamic psychotherapy. Therapists working in institutionalized outpatient settings reported more positive attitudes than those working in private practices. We found no effect of previous experience in administering OM/ROM for either implementation barriers or facilitators. However, more positive attitudes toward OM/ROM are associated with higher expectations regarding both support in therapeutic processes and support in clarification. Conclusion: OM/ROM systems should consider assessing concepts from different psychotherapeutic orientations. The implementation of OM/ROM could benefit from close monitoring.