Psychotherapy Treatment Manuals for Youth (1950-2025): A Scoping Review

Treatment manuals are critical to research and practice. Although existing studies have reviewed treatment manuals available through research, no research has been conducted to understand the body of commercially available youth-focused treatment manuals.

A scoping review of commercially available psychotherapy treatment manuals focused on youth was conducted. Traditional and programmatic-based search methods were used to query WorldCat, PsycINFO, and Google Books in July 2022, January 2025, and May 2025. A total of 85,264 results were screened during the preliminary screening, 3,166 results were screened during the secondary screening, and 462 treatment manuals were included and coded.

Treatment manuals have proliferated over time, with a majority of treatment manuals having been published since 2000 (84.4%). Most treatment manuals offered integrative (n = 123; 26.6%), second-wave cognitive behavioral (n = 111; 24.0%), or behavioral interventions (n = 87; 18.8%). Behavior problems (21.9%), traumatic sequelae (14.3%), emotional issues (9.3%), autism spectrum disorder (8.9%), and posttraumatic stress disorder (8.9%) were most commonly targeted. A small proportion of commercially available manuals (5.8%) presented ≥ 20% of content adapted for specific populations, primarily for gender identity or disability. Only 16% of reviewed treatment manuals were recognized in evidence-based practice guidelines.

Commercially available manuals for youth continue to grow, with differences in the proliferation by treatment and clinical target. A fraction of reviewed treatment manuals focused on providing adapted content for specific populations. Future efforts focused on creating more accessible, high-quality, and effective training resources for evidence-based practice are needed.