Empirically Supported Psychological Treatments for Children and Adolescents: State of the Art

Empirically Supported Psychological Treatments for Children and Adolescents: State of the Art. BACKGROUNDThe empirical evidence accumulated on the efficacy, effectiveness, and efficiency of psychotherapeutic treatments in children and adolescents calls for an update. The main goal of this paper objective was to carry out a selective review of empirically supported psychological treatments for a variety of common psychological disorders and problems in childhood and adolescence. METHODA review was carried out of the psychological treatments for different psychological disorders and problems in social-emotional or behavioral adjustment in the child-adolescent population according to the Spanish National Health System (Clinical Practice Guidelines) levels of evidence and degrees of recommendation. RESULTSThe findings suggest that psychological treatments have empirical support for addressing a wide range of psychological problems in these developmental stages. The degree of empirical support ranges from low to high depending on the phenomenon analyzed. The review suggests unequal progress in the different fields of intervention. CONCLUSIONSFrom this update, psychologists will be able to make informed decisions when implementing those empirically supported treatments to address the problems that occur in childhood and adolescence.