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Although the following studies employ some experimental controls, they are not rigorous enough to allow definitive conclusions about SFBT outcomes. (In fairness, some of these studies probably were not intended as controlled outcome evaluations.) Nevertheless, we include them here because they illustrate the range of application of SFBT, and their findings are suggestive of what one might expect when using SFBT in these situations. Further, their findings are generally consistent with the more rigorously designed studies.

 

Polk, G. W. (1996). Treatment of problem drinking behavior using solution-focused therapy: A single subject design. Crisis Intervention, 3(1), 13-24.

Investigated the effectiveness of SFBT on problem drinking behavior using a single-subject design. The client was a 36-year-old male who had a 10-year history of problem drinking and poor work attendance. Baseline data were reconstructed from archival records and client historical report. Findings indicated that the abstinence from alcohol and work attendance both increased over the course of treatment. At baseline, the client had been abstinent one day per week whereas by the end of treatment he was abstinent three days per week. Work attendance during baseline had been as low as two days per week, but increased to 4-6 days per week during treatment.

Eakes, G., Walsh, S., Markowksi, M., Cain, H., & Swanson, M. (1997). Family centered brief solution-focused therapy with chronic schizophrenia: A pilot study. Journal of Family Therapy, 19(2), 145-158.

Studied the impact of SFBT on families with a member diagnosed with schizophrenia. The sample included 10 patients and their families being served by a community mental health center. The first 5 families to volunteer were assigned to the treatment group and the next 5 were assigned to the control group. Treatment and control groups met every other week with a psychiatric nurse for standard aftercare, consisting of 20-minute medical checks. Immediately following these checks, for five times, the treatment group participated in a SFBT session. The SFBT group showed significant increases on several dimensions of the Family Environment Scale: Expressiveness, Active-recreational Orientation, and Incongruence, whereas the control group showed significant decreases.

Franklin, C., Corcoran, J., Nowicki, J., & Streeter, C. (1997). Using client self-anchored scales to measure outcomes in solution-focused therapy. Journal of Systemic Therapies, 16(3), 246-265.

Reports data from three single-case AB studies of families experiencing parent-adolescent conflict. All three cases were selected post hoc from the agency’s files to illustrate the clinical utility of using single-subject designs and self-anchored scales. Baselines were reconstructed, and intervention consisted of approximately 4 weekly outpatient family sessions using SFBT. Self-anchored scale scores showed positive behavior change for all three cases, which the authors judged to be statistically significant. 

Sundman, P. (1997). Solution-focused ideas in social work. Journal of Family Therapy, 19(2), 159-172.

Examined how solution-focused ideas might change social worker-client relationships and empower clients in a welfare agency. The 11 social workers who agreed to participate in the study received a 20-hour workshop in solution-focused methods and on-going supervision during the research project. Each social worker personally decided how to implement the solution-focused ideas presented in the training, however. The non-random control group was comprised of 14 social workers from comparable agencies. Three hundred eighty-two clients were selected randomly from the caseloads of the experimental and control group social workers. Outcomes were measured using a questionnaire in which social workers reported on their clients’ problems and goals, progress toward goals, and helpfulness of the social work relationship. Although both groups appeared to have improved, no statistically significant differences in goal achievement were found.

Geil, M. (1998). Solution focused consultation: an alternative consultation model to manage student behavior and improve classroom environment. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO.

Used single-case AB designs to compare the impact of behavioral consultation, solution-focused consultation, and no consultation on the behavior of 8 students in an elementary school. Psychologists assigned to treatment condition received 6 hours of training in SFBT consultation. Psychologists met with teachers twice each week to consult regarding the identified students, and teachers were responsible for implementing all interventions. Three teacher-student pairs were assigned to the solution-focused consultation, two were assigned to behavioral consultation, and three to no consultation. Trained observers coded child behaviors during the sessions with teachers using the Code for Instructional and Student Academic Response (CISAR), an interval-paced time sampling observation system that measures academic response, task management, and competing response behaviors. Variability within and between baseline and intervention phases in each of the 8 cases precluded unequivocal conclusions regarding the relationship between consultation and reduction in externalizing student behaviors. In only two cases, one student in the behavioral group and one in the solution-focused group, did client change appear to be significant.

SFBT Aid Group for Children of Incarcerated Parents

Springer, D. W., Lynch, C., & Rubin, A. (2000). Effects of a solution-focused mutual aid group for Hispanic children of incarcerated parents. Child and Adolescent Social Work, 17, 431-442.

Studied the impact of SFBT on trauma-reactive behaviors (depression, aggressiveness, withdrawal, etc.) of elementary school Hispanic children whose parents had been incarcerated. The first 5 subjects to enter the study were assigned to a group that solution-focused group therapy. The next 5 subjects were assigned to a no-treatment wait list group. SFBT subjects made significant pre-post improvement on the Hare Self-Esteem Scale, whereas the comparison group's scores were unchanged. However, a covariance analysis of post-test scores (with pre-test scores the covariate) found no significant between-group differences.

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Last  updated:  11/29/07
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