Solution focused brief therapy association

The SFBTA Research Committee is happy to continue the work of Dr. Alasdair Macdonald and collect and maintain the list of SFBT research.

This list of new studies can be downloaded into an excel file and search filters can be used to search by research design, participants, or settings. 

Download the SFBTA Research List 2017+ (Excel)

Kim, J. S., Brook, J., & Akin, B. (in press). Randomized controlled trial study of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy for substance use disorder affected parents involved in the child welfare system. Journal of the Society for Social Work & Research.

Study purpose: This study sought to examine the effectiveness of SFBT on substance abuse and trauma-related problems compared to treatment-as-usual (cognitive-behavioral therapy & CBT plus Motivational Interviewing).

Participants: Child welfare-involved parents seeking counseling services from an outpatient counseling center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Inclusion criteria: (1) families with children placed in out-of-home care with a case plan goal of reunification; (2) alcohol or drug abuse of the parent is a contributing condition to the adjudication of petition; (3) families have an open case in the area jurisdiction in which parental substance abuse is alleged; (4) families must have at least one parent who met the criteria specified in DSM-V for alcohol or illicit drug abuse or dependence at the time of child removal; (5) parents are 18 years or older and consent to participate.

Method: Randomized controlled trial utilizing mixed linear modeling to test the changes using intent-to-treat analysis and effect sizes to examine the magnitude of treatment effects. The treatment group received SFBT intervention and the control group received treatment as usual, consisting of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and occasionally CBT combined with Motivational Interviewing.

Result: Most of the effect size estimates for the SFBT and control groups were smaller in this study than the previous one and this study found statistical significance favoring SFBT on between-group effect size for TSC depression subscale. Results show SFBT can be effective in helping clients address substance use and trauma related problems and in fact may be slightly better than current evidence-based approaches for trauma.

Study Design: Randomized Controlled Trial 

Study Setting: Outpatient Services

Wallace, L. B., Hai, A. H., & Franklin, C. (2020). An evaluation of Working on What Works (WOWW): A solution-focused intervention for schools. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 46(4), 687–700. https://doi.org/10.1111/jmft.12424

Study purpose: To evaluate teachers’ sense of efficacy, teachers’ evaluation of their relationships with students, and teachers’ assessment of attendance, problem behaviors, and academic outcomes of students participating in a 10-week solution-focused intervention: Working on What Works (WOWW).

Participants: Data were collected on 413 fourth and fifth grade students in public, primarily rural schools and private, primarily urban schools

Methods: Students were randomly assigned to the control group which did not receive the intervention or the experimental group which received the WOWW intervention. Students’ internalizing and externalizing behaviors were measured via a modified version of the Student Internalizing Behavior (Teacher/Staff version) and the Student Externalizing Behavior (Teacher/Staff Version) and student-teacher relationships were measured via the Student-Teacher Relationship Scale- Short Form. Student attendance and academic performance were measured via teachers’ report. Teacher’s self-efficacy was measured via Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale and teachers were asked to rate their classroom’s general performance at baseline and post-test. Data were analyzed in a multilevel model analysis with the intervention condition and control variables (teacher’s teaching experience, class size, WOWW coach, student race, and special education status) as independent variables. Linear regression models were used to examine the effect of WOWW on classroom/teacher-level outcomes.

Results: No significant differences between WOWW and the control group for student internalizing and externalizing behaviors, student-teacher relationships, student academic performance, and teacher sense of efficacy. Students in the WOWW group had significantly fewer absences and teacher classroom performance scores improved significantly more in the WOWW group in comparison to the control group.

Study Design: Randomized experimental posttest-only design

Study Setting: School

Yates, H. T., Choi, Y. J., & Beauchemin, J. D. (2020). “It’s not just us . . . we ain’t doin’ it alone”: Development of the Solution-Focused Wellness for HIV intervention for women. Families in Society, 101(1), 71–82. https://doi.org/10.1177/1044389419856749

Study purpose: To receive expert researcher and client feedback about an intervention manual for a Solution-Focused HIV intervention.

Participants: 3 SFBT experts to provide feedback on the intervention and model and 6 women living with HIV who participated in the intervention and a focus group. The intervention participants ranged in age from 42-61 years old and included 2 females who identified as White and 4 females who identified as African American.

Inclusion criteria: The intervention participants had to be females over the age of 18 and living with HIV.

Methods: Five phases were utilized to develop the intervention manual: (1) manual development; (2) expert feedback; (3) provide the intervention; (4) focus groups with intervention participants; and (5) manual revisions. Semi-structured focus group interviews were analyzed by identifying patterns and themes among participant responses.

Results: Common themes include: (1) accommodating the intervention for the physical and cognitive needs of participants to maintain participation and access; (2) talking about spiritual and relational wellness helps to address relationship dynamics with family members of women living with HIV; (3) supportive relationships among women in the group provided a sense of belonging and encouraged wellness activities; and (4) discussing antiretroviral medications and co-occurring health issues is important in improving the wellness for women living with HIV.

Study Design: Qualitative Study           

Study Setting: Case Management Agency

Yates, H. T., & Mowbray, O. (2020). Evaluating the Solution Focused Wellness for HIV intervention for women: A pilot study. Journal of Solution Focused Practices, 4(2), 1-13.

Study purpose: To evaluate the Solution-Focused Wellness for HIV (SFWH) intervention for women.

Participants: 14 women living with HIV who participated (at varying levels) in seven-session, group intervention.

Inclusion criteria: Participants had to identify as female, be living with HIV, and be over the age of 18.

Methods: Data were collected via the 74-item Five Factor Wellness Inventory and HIV-related wellness was measured via biomarkers (e.g. viral load and CD4 T-Cell Lymphocyte counts). Paired samples T-Tests and Chi-square tests were performed to measure change over time in HIV-related wellness from baseline to five-weeks post-intervention.

Results: There was no significant difference in CD4 counts pre- and post-intervention; however, there was a significant difference in viral loads from pre- to post-intervention. Additionally, the results demonstrated that the intervention was associated with significant improvements in multidimensional wellness from pre- to post-intervention.

Study Design: Single Group Pre-Post Test

Study Setting: Case management agency

Edmondson, S., & Howe, J. (2019). Using solution-focused brief therapy within an eco-systemic approach to support return to school following an acquired brain injury. Educational Psychology in Practice, 35(3), 243–256. https://doi.org/10.1080/02667363.2019.1567465

Study purpose: This single case study designed sought to understand the use of a Solution-Focused eco-systemic approach to support the return to school for one male student who had an acquired brain injury.

Participants: One male participant, 15-years-old.

Inclusion criteria: The male participant acquired a severe brain injury, and when briefly returning to school after the injury, he struggled to cope emotionally and cognitively and had several difficulties in physical abilities including but not limited to speech and language, memory, and concentration.

Method: Single case-study design.

Result: The single participant was successfully reintegrated back into school at the end of the intervention period. There were three key facilitators to returning to school: (1) psychological formulation of the individual’s needs and strengths to support a personalized approach to their reintegration; (2) supporting and educating school staff during the individual’s reintegration; and (3) one-to-one therapeutic work with the individual.
Study Design: Single Case Study                 

Study Setting: School

González Suitt, K., Geraldo, P., Estay, M., & Franklin, C. (2019). Solution-Focused Brief Therapy for individuals with Alcohol Use Disorders in Chile. Research on Social Work Practice, 29(1), 19–35. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049731517740958

Study purpose: A pilot study to examine the applicability of a linguistically adapted SFBT program, implemented by social workers in Chilean primary care.

Participants: Two women and six men between 38 and 60 years of age (n=8) recruited from referrals from medical or paramedical personnel, and self-referrals. Individuals were patients to two primary health clinics in southern Santiago, Chile and presented moderate to severe risk level of alcohol use as measured by the AUDIT.

Inclusion criteria: individuals between 18 and 65 years of age, able to communicate verbally with others, willing to participate in the intervention, and willing to fill out measures forms. 

Exclusion criteria: Presented a severe and untreated mental illness such as schizophrenia.

Method: A pilot test of the linguistic adaptation of SFBT by social workers who received training in the brief intervention, single case design with 8 replications. 

Analysis: Visual and percentage of non-overlapping data analyses to analyze the results of the program on participants’ alcohol use and other related variables.

Results: Social workers successfully implemented 10 of the 13 SFBT techniques. Participants increased their “percentage of days abstinent,” diminished “consequences of alcohol use,” decreased their “depression index,” and increased their “self-reported well-being.” Exception and coping questions may serve to increase abstinent days and SFBT focus on issues other than alcohol that are important to clients could help to reduce harm on individuals who use alcohol.
Study Design: Single-case AB design with 8 replications (time-series)

Study Setting: Health Clinic

Kim, J., Jordan, S. S., Franklin, C., & Froerer, A. (2019). Is Solution-Focused Brief Therapy evidence-based? An update 10 years later. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services, 100(2), 127–138. https://doi.org/10.1177/1044389419841688

Study purpose: An update on a previously published study, highlighting growth in SFBT field including the publishing of additional experimental designs and studies with a wide variety of populations. Promising results for use of SFBT for improving emotional, behavioral, and interpersonal issues.

Result: SFBT research has grown tremendously over the past 10 years since the publishing of the first article. This article describes and summarizes the status of SFBT as an evidence-based intervention including but not limited to publishing over multiple meta-analyses, randomized controlled trials, and quasi-experimental studies. The current article provides an up-date on the evidence-base of SFBT, showing favorable results on emotional, behavioral and interpersonal issues. This article updates various US national evidence-based registries and clearinghouses as well as provide resources for practitioners on SFBT training.

Study Design: Position Paper

Turns, B., Jordan, S. S., Callahan, K., Whiting, J., & Springer, N. P. (2019). Assessing the effectiveness of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy for couples raising a child with Autism: A pilot clinical outcome study. Journal of Couple & Relationship Therapy, 18(3), 257–279. https://doi.org/10.1080/15332691.2019.1571975

Study purpose: A pilot clinical outcome study used to identify the effectiveness of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy for couples raising a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Participants: 5 married couples at least 18-years-old raising a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) between the ages of 4 and 16. 

Inclusion criteria: The couple needed to not be receiving couples therapy elsewhere at the time of the study, the child’s score for the Gilliam Autism Rating Scale-3 (GARS-3) needed to indicate an Autism Index score of 55, at least one member of the couple needed to score a 63 or higher on the Outcome Questionnaire 45.2, and at least one member of the couple needed to score a 16 or lower on the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale, indicating some degree of marital distress.

Method: Clinical pilot outcome study employing a multiple-baseline design.

Result: Solution-Focused Brief Therapy was delivered once weekly for a total of 6 weeks for all participants. Some participants demonstrated immediate improvements in overall well-being while others showed improvement after participating in a few sessions. SFBT was generally supported as an effective treatment for parents of children with autism, especially for mothers.
Study Design: Multiple Baseline Design    

Study Setting: Marriage and Family Counseling

Aihie, O. N., & Igbineweka, M. N. (2018). Efficacy of Solution Focused Brief Therapy, Systematic Desensitization and Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy in reducing the test anxiety status of undergraduates in a Nigerian University. Journal of Educational and Social Research, 8(1), 19–26. https://doi.org/10.2478/jesr-2018-0002

Study purpose: To investigate the differential efficacy of Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT), Systematic Desensitization (SD), and Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT) in reducing the test anxiety status of undergraduate students attending a Nigerian university.

Participants: Undergraduate students in the Faculty of Education at a Nigerian University (n=123). Multistage random sampling was used to select the sample. First, 4 departments were randomly selected from the 5 departments comprising the Faculty. Stratified random sampling was used thereafter to select a course area from each of the four selected departments. Intact classes of students in selected course areas were then randomly assigned to the four treatment groups.

Method: The study adopted a pretest, post-test non-equivalent control group quasi-experimental design. The study consisted of three independent variables (SFBT, SD, & REBT) and one dependent variable (test anxiety) with the intervening variable of gender having two levels (male & female). Data were collected and analyzed using mean scores ANOVA statistics.

Results: There were significant decreases in test anxiety in both the Systematic Desensitization (SD) and Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) treatment groups, independent of participant gender. Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy had no statistically significant effect on participant test anxiety.
Study Design: Quasi-experimental (pretest, post-test non-equivalent control group)

Study Setting: College/University

Beauchemin, J. D. (2018). Solution-Focused wellness: A randomized controlled trial of college students. Health & Social Work, 43(2), 94–100. https://doi.org/10.1093/hsw/hly007

Study purpose: Examine the effects of short-term (7 week) of Solution-focused wellness intervention on perceived stress and wellness of college students.

Participants: College students (n=59) who self-identified as experiencing stress or compromised wellness from a Midwestern university (recruited via flyers, emails to department heads, and referrals from the counseling center staff).

Methods: A randomized-controlled trial (RCT) of a 7-week solution-focused wellness group intervention. Outcome variables were assessed before and immediately after the intervention and were compared with TAU (a 7-week interpersonal process therapy group). Repeated-measures ANOVA was used to compare within and between-group differences in outcome variables, allowing for the testing of significant effects of independent variables on dependent variables.

Result: The effect of group membership across time was significant for both perceived wellness and stress (**p<.01). The main effect of time was significant over time for wellness. Brief solution-focused wellness intervention can significantly improve perceptions of wellness and reduce stress among college students and is more effective than treatment-as-usual.
Study Design: Randomized Controlled Trial   

Study Setting: College/University

Carrick, H., & Randle-Phillips, C. (2018). Solution-Focused approaches in the context of people with intellectual disabilities: A Critical Review. Journal of Mental Health Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 11(1), 30–53. https://doi.org/10.1080/19315864.2017.1390711

Study purpose: To summarize and critique the literature that has used Solution-Focused intervention in Intellectual Disabilities (ID).

Participants: 6 with individuals and 6 with staff and families (n=12). * Most of these studies are case studies.

Inclusion criteria: conducted SFBT suing one or more technique/ populations included in the study have global significant intellectual impairment required for an ID diagnosis.

Exclusion criteria: The population included had a diagnosis of a specific learning difficulty (e.g., dyslexia, dyspraxia, attention-deficit disorder) and weren’t original research articles (e.g., review articles)

Results: There is preliminary evidence for the effectiveness of SFBT for individuals with mild ID and Solution-Focused Coaching of Consultation (SFC) for staff working with individuals with moderate and severe ID. SFBT only provided to clients with mild-moderate ID, adapting SFBT to the needs of individuals with ID including but not limited to involving support from a family member during sessions, adaptation of scales, and adaptations to the use of exception seeking. Solution-Focused Counseling (SFC) was primarily used with care staff working with individuals with ID seeking help related to challenging behaviors of clients.
Study Design: Literature Review                         

Study Setting: School

Cepukiene, V., Pakrosnis, R., & Ulinskaite, G. (2018). Outcome of the solution-focused self-efficacy enhancement group intervention for adolescents in foster care setting. Children and Youth Services Review, 88, 81–87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.03.004

Study purpose: To assess foster care adolescents’ self-efficacy and psychological functioning during psychological SFBT intervention. The intervention consisted of 3 weekly sessions unified by a common narrative of a train journal towards a higher self-efficacy.

Participants: Foster care adolescents in Lithuania divided into intervention (n = 29) and control (n = 29) groups.

Method: Quasi-experimental and non-randomized real-life practice intervention trial.

Result: Participants of the SFBT intervention group reported a significant increase in the general self-efficacy with a large effect size as compared to the control group. However, the intervention had no significant effect on the social self-efficacy.
Study Design: Quasi-experimental                              

Study Setting: Foster Care

Chen, H., Liu, X., Guz, S. R., Zhang, A., Franklin, C., Zhang, Y., & Qu, Y. (2018). The use of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy in Chinese schools: a qualitative analysis of practitioner perceptions. International Journal of School Social Work, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.4148/2161-4148.1030

Study purpose: To examine the application of SFBT in Chinese school settings from educators’ and practitioners’ perspective by reviewing results from a government survey distributed to Chinese school mental health practitioners.

Participants: A convenience sample of mental health practitioners in 90 Chinese public schools.

Method: Mixed-Method study using the Survey on Mental Health Education in Primary and Secondary Schools (7 multiple-choice questions), a broad questionnaire addressing a variety of school services.

Result: 134 questionnaires completed; 52% first knew of SFBT after 2011, 2.4% knew of SFBT before 2002; 91.5% selected that SFBT has very good/good cultural compatibility. The Chinese practitioners have a strong interest in the strengths-based approach and feel that SFBT is culturally adaptive to the Chinese student population. Nonetheless, respondents reflected frustrations in the limited training availability and the need for increased availability of resources.
Study Design: Mixed-Method Study                            

Study Setting: School

King, G., Schwellnus, H., Keenan, S., & Chiarello, L. A. (2018). Youth engagement in pediatric rehabilitation: Service providers’ perceptions in a real-time study of Solution-Focused coaching for participation goals. Physical & Occupational Therapy in Pediatrics, 38(5), 527–547. https://doi.org/10.1080/01942638.2017.1405864

Study purpose: To examine service providers’ perceptions of youth engagement in solution-focused coaching sessions focusing on participation-oriented goals for youth with cerebral palsy.

Participants: Service providers working with youth with Cerebral Palsy.

Method: Service providers completed the Pediatric Rehabilitation Intervention Measure of Engagement- Service Provider (PRIME-SP) at the end of each coaching session (a total of 3-5 sessions) for 10 different youth.

Result: 1. Youth engagement in the SFC-pediatric intervention was typically high but fluctuated over sessions, including affective, cognitive, and behavioral engagement. Affective and cognitive engagement were particularly high in beginning sessions. 2. 16 engagement components and engagement-related factors in the sessions were recorded and grouped into 4 types aligned with the engagement model used in the study including client states, components of in-session engagement, components of behavior change between sessions, and service provider strategies. 3. Four outcome-related patterns of engagement, client-reported success, and goal difficulty appeared to be meaningful elated to quantitative measures of youth outcomes. Engagement may be important but not sufficient for goal attainment, as outside of session success and goal difficulty seem important to outcomes as well.
Study Design: Quantitative Study                                

Study Setting: School

Li, Y., Solomon, P., Zhang, A., Franklin, C., Ji, Q., & Chen, Y. (2018). Efficacy of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy for distress among parents of children with congenital heart disease in China. Health & Social Work, 43(1), 30–40. https://doi.org/10.1093/hsw/hlx045

Study purpose: A pilot study aimed to examine the efficacy of SFBT in a Chinese hospital for parental distress of children with Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) using a randomized controlled trial design.

Participants: Parents of children with CHD in China who were assigned to SFBT (n=25,) and Treatment-As-Usual (TAU) group (n=28). Study participants were obtained through: (1) referral from physicians or nursing staff, (2) referral from the Department of Medical Social Work through daily rounds at the heart center, and (3) self-referral. They went through the treatment, which was a four-session intervention occurring over a minimum of 10 days after initial referral contact.

Methods: ANCOVA and Intent-to-treat analysis. ANCOVA tested whether the treatment condition is superior to the control, within and between group treatment effect sizes was calculated as well (Hedges g), and intent-to-treat analysis was conducted for both ANCOVA and Hedges g.

Result: Parents in SFBT group showed a significant decrease in parental stress and increase in parents’ level of hope compared to treatment as usual (TAU) group. The effect sizes (Hedges’ g) for SFBT were 1.27 and 1.43 for depression and anxiety respectively.
Study Design: Mixed-Method Study                           

Study Setting: Hospital

McGhee, M., & Stark, M. (2018). Promoting collegial teacher supervision: Applying solution-focused strategies in a clinical supervision cycle. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 21(6), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2018.1463458

Study purpose: To explore the perception of the effectiveness of Solution-Focused Supervision (SFS) strategies applied in a clinical supervision cycle.

Participants: 8 female graduate students, half (n=4) were educators of color (Latina and African American). Five participants worked in secondary schools and three in elementary schools.

Inclusion Criteria: Graduate students in an educational leadership program enrolled in a supervision course.

Methods: Students participated in semi-structured interviews that lasted approximately 45-minutes. Each student provided a copy of their final clinical supervision report. Participants were asked to participate in member-checking to review transcripts of interviews prior to data analysis. Data were analyzed beginning with an open coding process and then content analysis, summing occurrences of each code identified in the data.

Results: Five major themes emerged from the study: (1) SFS was viewed positively and found to be beneficial; (2) participants reported a desire to give the teacher more power in supervision meetings; (3) participants used specific SFS techniques in their clinical supervision cycles; (4) participants felt confident in using the SFS approach; and (5) participants discussed the need for more practice using SFS strategies.

Study Design: Qualitative Study                       

Study Setting: College/University

Stark, M. D., Kim, J. S., & Lehmann, P. (2018). Solution-Focused Brief Therapy training: What’s useful when training is brief? Journal of Systemic Therapies, 37(2), 44–63. https://doi.org/10.1521/jsyt.2018.37.2.44

Study purpose: To identify Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) training contents and practices that are the most beneficial in mental health clinicians’ learning and application of SFBT. 

Participants: Mental health clinicians (n=15).

Inclusion criteria: Inclusion criteria for the qualitative component: Those have participated in a training on SFBT that was 40 hours or fewer in length within the last two years, (b) indicate (on the survey) having conducted a solution-focused session in the past week, and (c) indicate (on the survey) a willingness to participate in a follow-up interview.

Method: Phase 1 of the study was a survey to collect responses on understanding the strategies, which were beneficial to learning SFBT. Qualitative interviews were then conducted with a subset of survey participants focused on how they would like to continue learning, adapting, and growing in the use of SFBT in their own practices.

Result: About a third of participants reported that over half of the training was spent using experiential or practice activities, while another third reported approximately 31-50% of time was spent using experiential activities. Useful components of the training include but are not limited to role-play and practice-sessions with peers or live clients and watching video demonstrations of SFBT cases. Practicing SFBT techniques was the most helpful in learning SFBT for trainees, as well as trainer feedback, and learning/relearning SFBT techniques. Equally important were components of the training that were less helpful, including but not limited to presentation of materials/activities. Over half of respondents received supervision in SFBT after the training. Three themes emerged after the qualitative study interviews: (1) Rationale for interest in SFBT; (2) Specific development of SFBT skills; and (3) Maintaining enthusiasm for solution-focused practice. Participants identified the need to grow SFBT skills through role-playing during training and quality supervision after training was complete. Reasons for participant interest in SFBT include internal motivation for growth, SFBT approach resonated with the individual, and frustration with previous approach. Specific strategies and techniques helpful in SFBT skill development include demonstration/modeling, breaking it down and putting it together, use of actual clients in training, and role-plays. All of the interview participants expressed enthusiasm in continuing to use and learn SFBT including the most frequent method being consulting with others who use SFBT.
Study Design: Mixed-Method Study                 

Study Setting: Mental Healthcare

Wand, T., Acret, L., & D’Abrew, N. (2018). Introducing solution-focussed brief therapy to mental health nurses across a local health district in Australia. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 27(2), 774–782. https://doi.org/10.1111/inm.12364

Study purpose: (1) To introduce and evaluate the utility of SFBT principles, strategies, and techniques to the clinical work of mental health nurses from a local health district in Sydney, Australia; (2) eliciting recommendations to inform a more structured training program.

Participants: Mental health nurses (n=70; 45 females, 25 males) recruited from March 2015 to June 2016. MHN had a broad range of clinical experience, and workshops were attended by 50 MHN from inpatient settings and 20 MHN from community centers.

Analysis: content analysis via open coding, creating categories and identifying/defining themes. Team members independently reviews the analyzed data and met to compare and discussed grouped ideas that they had identified to reach consensus on categories and themes.

Results: SFBT is a contemporary therapy that is aligned with the principles of recovery, and represents a flexible way of working with people experiencing a range of mental health-, alcohol, and substance-related challenges. However, at the same time, SFBT is challenging, particularly as the approach was considered different to current practices in mental health services. Widespread training for mental health nurses in SFBT is necessary.
Study Design: Mixed-Method Study                 

Study Setting: Mental Healthcare

Whitehead, L., Allan, M. C., Allen, K., Duchak, V., King, E., Mason, C., Mooney, L., & Tully, S. (2018). ‘ Give us a break! ’: Using a solution focused programme to help young people cope with loss and negative change. Bereavement Care, 37(1), 17–27. https://doi.org/10.1080/02682621.2018.1443597

Study purpose: To investigate the impact of “Give Us A Break” (GUAB!) program, which is based on the model of SFBT, by assessing factors related to young people’s resilience and optimistic thinking prior to and following participation.

Participants: Young populations (n=81; age range= 8-17) who had experienced bereavement or loss previously. Mean age of 11.01 years, 35% female, 65% male participants. 9 individuals had experienced another type of loss (i.e., related to familial changes).

Exclusion criteria: Participants who could not contact/completion did not adhere to timescale, or participants who attended less than 7 sessions/dropped out of group, and Parent declined consent for follow-up.

Method: A mixed group (bereaved/non bereaved) repeated measures design was utilized to measure pre-post difference in the factors which contribute to young people’s resilience following intervention. Young people completed the Resiliency Scales for Children and Adolescents and to increase rigor, parents/carers and teachers completed the Devereux Student Strengths Assessment. All analyses were subjected to a 2×2 mixed ANOVA, and the within-subject factor was Time and the between-group factor was Loss type.

Results: The program positively impacted young people in terms of their Sense of Relatedness to others, Sense of Mastery, Social and Emotional Competence and Optimistic Thinking. Positive impact on social emotional competence for both young people and parents/carers ad teachers is thought to positively influence resilience. The overall positive impact of the GUAB! program was independent of loss type experienced by the individual. All of the measures gathered from parent/carers and teachers indicates positive and significant difference in optimistic thinking after participation in the GUAB! group. There was not a statistically significant change in young people’s self-reported Emotional Reactivity, although mean scores did improve following participation in the group.
Study Design: One Group Pre-Posttest Designs       

Study Setting: School

Zhang, A., Ji, Q., Currin-McCulloch, J., Solomon, P., Chen, Y., Li, Y., Jones, B., Franklin, C., & Nowicki, J. (2018). The effectiveness of solution-focused brief therapy for psychological distress among Chinese parents of children with a cancer diagnosis: A pilot randomized controlled trial. Supportive Care in Cancer, 26(8), 2901–2910. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-018-4141-1

Study purpose: Effectiveness of a hospital-based SFBT intervention for reducing psychological distress among parents of children with pediatric cancer patients in China. The intervention was delivered via four sessions over the course of two weeks by hospital social workers, with pre and post-assessments measuring distress (i.e., depression, anxiety, and somatization symptoms).

Participants: The pilot study was conducted in one of the largest and leading pediatric hospitals in China with its Hematology and Oncology Center serving over 500 pediatric patients annually. Individuals over the age of 21 who identified as the primary parental caregiver of a child receiving active, on-going cancer treatment. Parents of children with pediatric cancer diagnosis in China (n=44) were randomly assigned to SFBT or active control (AC).

Methods: Comparison between SFBT and Active Control (AC) groups of participants. Pre and post-intervention assessments (baseline, post treatment, and 2 weeks after termination of interventions, although most did not complete the third measurement) measured change in distress (depression, anxiety, and somatization symptoms) of parents as well as their level of hope.

Analysis: ANCOVA was used to increase the statistical power, with post-test score as the dependent variable, pre-test score as the covariate, and treatment condition as the fixed factor. Within and between group treatment effect size estimates and Hedges’ g were calculated to examine how much participants improved in both treatment and control groups.

Results: SFBT group had better outcomes than active control groups for overall distress and level of hope. Results suggest that SFBT is a feasible, culturally compatible, and promising intervention for alleviating distress among Chinese parents of children with cancer, within the inherent limits of the pilot study.
Study Design: Randomized Controlled Trial              

Study Setting: Hospital

Archuleta, K. L., Mielitz, K. S., Jayne, D., & Le, V. (2017). Financial goal setting, financial anxiety, and solution-focused financial therapy (SFFT): A quasi-experimental outcome study. Contemporary Family Therapy, 42(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10591-019-09501-0

Study purpose: The purpose of this study was to discover whether financial anxiety levels were reduced after clients participated in a brief Solution-Focused Financial Therapy goal setting session.

Participants: Students attending a clinic at a Midwestern university.

Method: Quasi-experimental methods, collected via a pre-post survey design and a paired t-test analysis to check for significance between pre and post-treatment financial anxiety.

Result: Results indicate that SFBT approach to goal setting can reduce financial anxiety for the short term. Changes from pre to post-test were found to be significant in 4 of the 7 financial anxiety items, and overall financial anxiety of respondents was significantly lower following SFBT goal setting session. The overall change in financial anxiety was only significant for those who were white and had either a positive or negative net worth.
Study Design: Quasi-experimental                   

Study Setting: College/University

Carr, A., Hartnett, D., Brosnan, E., & Sharry, J. (2017). Parents Plus systemic, solution-focused parent training programs: Description, review of the evidence base, and meta-analysis. Family Process, 56(3), 652–668. https://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12225

Study purpose: To evaluate studies evaluating Parents Plus (PP) programs, which is a group-based parent training involving systemic and solution-focused practices.

Inclusion criteria: Parents Plus (PP) evaluation studies were included in the review if they were published or unpublished and controlled or uncontrolled trials involving at least 10 cases. The study had to be conducted prior to 2016 and the PP program had to be facilitated by professionals trained by the PP organization, meaning all studies occurred within the PP network of trained facilitators.

Methods: 17 PP evaluation studies conducted between 2001 and 2015 were identified by the first and fourth author, who was the director of the PP organization. Data were extracted on four dependent variables at three time points: pre-treatment, post-treatment, and follow-up. Data also were extracted on 11 potential moderators (e.g. number of cases in the study, total number of sessions, child’s age, etc.) Studies were coded as randomized, nonrandomized, or single group trials. Effect sizes were weighted based on the invers of the variance (approximately the sample size) and then a series of regression analyses were conducted to determine if variability in the outcome was due to any of the 11 moderators. The Bonferroni correction was used to control for the large number of statistical tests.

Results: All studies were conducted in Ireland and maintained program fidelity because facilitators were required to follow detailed program manuals, complete integrity checklists after each session, and attend regular program training and supervision. Nine studies were conducted in clinical settings while eight were conducted in community-based settings. Across the 17 studies, 919 parents were engaged in the PP training and 440 were in wait list control or treatment as usual control groups. Effect sizes ranged from small (.12) to large (3.01) and overall mean effect sizes ranged from medium (.55) to large (1.96) and all were significantly greater than zero, with 9 of the overall effect sizes being highly statistically significant. The impact of PP programs on effect sizes was significantly moderated by the following: two study design features (randomization and number of cases in the study), two child characteristics (age and problem severity), and three program attributes (number of sessions, concurrent child intervention, and program type).

Study Design: Meta-Analysis     

Study Setting: Outpatient Services

Franklin, C., Zhang, A., Froerer, A., & Johnson, S. (2017). Solution Focused Brief Therapy: A systematic review and meta-summary of process research. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 43(1), 16–30. https://doi.org/10.1111/jmft.12193

Study purpose: The purpose of this current review is to summarize the empirical change process literature on SFBT and to review the use of practices and processes in SFBT as reported by the literature

Methods: The objective was to review (a) all available, (b) process studies of SFBT that were (c) delivered in clinical settings (direct client contact). The authors reviewed all studies in English, published or unpublished, that purported to study the processes of SFBT. Unpublished studies, dissertations, and conference reports, including published conference proceedings and conference presentations were reviewed. The study used a meta-summary (one of mixed-method research) to analyze data.

Results: A total of 33 studies were included in the systematic review. Approximately 43% used microanalytic sequential process design (MSPD), approximately 39% used process-outcome or mechanisms of change method, four studies used qualitative methodology and two used comprehensive or task analysis. Study results indicate that SFBT techniques and methods show positive support for change processes related to SFBT.

Study Design: Systematic Review

Gong, H., & Hsu, W. (2017). The Effectiveness of Solution-Focused Group Therapy in ethnic Chinese school settings: A meta-analysis. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 67(3), 383–409. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207284.2016.1240588

Study purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness and moderators of the effects of solution-focused group therapy in Chinese school settings.

Inclusion Criteria: Studies were included in the review if they: occurred in schools, involved an experimental or quasi-experimental design, used pure SFGT as their only intervention methods, used questionnaires and/or scales with good psychometric properties, and were published by September 30, 2014.

Methods: Six phases were used: (1) identify existing studies; (2) code the studies; (3) calculate effect-size indexes; (4) conduct statistical analyses; (5) conduct interpretations; and (6) publish the findings. The meta-analysis included 24 validated studies published between 2000 and 2014.

Results: SFGT had large significant immediate and follow-up effects. Group size and publication year did not have significant correlation with the immediate effect of SFGT and immediate effects were significant for all groups except for junior high school students who exhibited moderate effect sizes. Internalizing problem behaviors and family and relationship problems demonstrated average effects above .80.

Study Design: Meta-Analysis     

Study Setting: School

Lohuis, A. M., van Vuuren, M., Sools, A., & Bohlmeijer, E. (2017). Ambiguities of ‘doing what works’: How professionals make sense of applying solution-focused support for people with intellectual disabilities. International Journal of Developmental Disabilities, 63(3), 170–183. https://doi.org/10.1080/20473869.2016.1198102

Study purpose: to understand how professionals make sense of learning and applying Solution-Focused Support (SFS) that support people with intellectual disabilities (ID) using qualitative study analysis. 

Participants: Caregiver or Assistant caregiver (n=9 comprised of 7 women and 2 men) from 24-hour setting or Outpatient clients between the ages of 24 and 53. Used logbook files in which professionals reported their experiences with SFS for a full year.

Methods: Logbooks were analyzed qualitatively in two steps: (1) identification of how professionals assigned successful and unsuccessful applications of SFS and reflected on what worked and dilemmas arising during application process and (2) identification of patterns over time in how professionals learned how to deal with the encountered dilemmas. As a part of a larger project on solution-focused learning and experiences at a Dutch health care organization, longitudinal data from 9 recently appointed employees was used. During their first year in the organization, participants were interviewed 3 times and they kept bi-monthly logbook files. The long-term approach provide the time needed for researchers to evaluate the whole learning process and for professionals to acquire and integrate their new knowledge and skills.

Inclusion criteria: Employment for less than a year, intention for long-term engagement, being in the process of completing trainings in SFS, and willing to participate in the research process (n=9).

Results: Three themes were identified to address how professionals made sense of learning how to apply SFS over time and deal with ambiguities of ‘doing what works’ in practice: (1) a focus on caring, (2) a focus on empowering, and (3) a focus on balancing between the two. The log files included referrals to all of the dimensions and solution-focused communication techniques, with communication techniques of contextualizing and goal setting being most prominent.
Study Design: Qualitative Study                                   

Study Setting: Outpatient Services

Lu, X., Wang, D., & Dong, Y. (2017). Effect of solution-focused brief therapy-based on exercise prescription intervention on adolescent mental health. Revista Argentina de Clínica Psicológica, 26(3), 347–355. https://doi.org/10.24205/03276716.2017.1035

Study purpose: Examine the effect of SFBT-based exercise prescription on adolescent mental health (internalizing problems such as depression and anxiety). The control group received ordinary mental health education from the school’s mental health teacher.  **Published in Spanish Only

Participants: Adolescents patients treated in the 3rd grade class (n=144); 48 in SFBT and conventional psychological intervention, and control group respectively.

Result: After 6 months of intervention, negative emotional health scores decreased in all 3 groups significantly, and the SFBT group showed the greatest decreases in all three components of mental health.

Study Design: Randomized Controlled Trial   

Study Setting: Clinical Counseling

Smith, S., & Macduff, C. (2017). A thematic analysis of the experience of UK mental health nurses who have trained in Solution Focused Brief Therapy. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 24(2–3), 105–113. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpm.12365

Study purpose: To explore the experiences of nurses who had undertaken a prolonged (150 hours over the course of 6 months) period of training in SFBT in United Kingdom. It was assumed that a longer period of training would produce more discernible change in the nurse’s practice, thus aiding in the discussion of changes that had occurred.

Participants: A convenience sample of former students (n=20) who had completed the SFBT course at Robert Gordon University (RGU).

Method: 20 interviews in semi-structured format with nurses in Scotland who had completed SFBT training.

Analysis: Thematic analysis to generate an inductive understanding of the individual experience. Thematic analysis allowed for the emergence of key common themes across the group experience to be identified. Thematic analysis was carried out using an adaptation of Colaizzi’s (1978) seven-step formulated meaning model where significant statements were parsed into discrete statements of articulated meaning, and were then identified using a recursive analysis, as contributing to emerging themes.

Results: Five main themes emerged from analysis of the 20 interviews: (1) client empowerment in determining their own solutions to their challenges, (2) fit between underpinning ideas of SFBT and participants’ personal values, (3) success and positive clinical outcomes, (4) framework for practice provided via the prolonger training, and (5) previous experiences in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) training and an overall preference for SF-modalities. Many of the participants reported increased trust in their clients and enhanced role satisfaction. Although SFBT seems to be working for participants, there are still barriers about building trustful relationship with clients in SFBT intervention.
Study Design: Qualitative Study                                  

Study Setting: Healthcare

Bolton, K. W., Lehmann, P., Jordan, C., Frank, L., & Moore, B. (2016). Self-determined goals in a solution-focused batterer intervention program: Application for building client strengths and solutions. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 26(6), 541–548. https://doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2016.1172996

Study purpose: To explore self-determined goals created by violent offenders who participated in a court-mandated treatment program.

Participants: 89 domestic violence offenders ranging in age from 21 to 66 (mean = 36). 50 identified as white, 12 identified as black, 20 identified as Latino, and 4 identified as biracial.

Inclusion criteria: Participants were enrolled in a solution-focused batterer intervention program for male offenders. The program involved eight one-hour weekly sessions facilitated by a licensed clinical social work (LCSW).

Methods: Data were collected from a goal sheet where participants identified personal goal/s to work on as a part of their participation in group therapy sessions. Qualitative content analysis was used to examine characteristics of the goals using an open-coding approach. Two researchers independently coded the goals and identified themes and then triangulated and collectively identified thematic categories.

Results: Four themes emerged: (1) emotional regulation such as self-control and stress management; (2) personal growth via physical, mental, and emotional changes; (3) improve relationships such as with intimate partners, parents, and/or children; and (4) improve communication.

Study Design: Qualitative Study           

Study Setting: Court-Mandated Programming

Cane, F. (2016). Whose problem? Everyone’s solution: A case study of a systemic and solution-focused approach to therapeutic intervention in a secondary school. Educational and Child Psychology, 33(4), 15.

Study purpose: To evaluate the use of a systemic and solution-focused approach in school.

Participants: One 12-year-old boy with behavioral difficulties including attention difficulties and off-task behaviors in school.

Methods: The following co-constructed intervention goals were created by the student and school staff: increase on-task behavior, lower frequency of low-level disruptive behaviors and the intensity of over-excited behaviors, be on time for school more, and increase instances of asking for help. The student was asked to scale throughout the course of the intervention to evaluate change over time.

Results: The student improved in his scale from 3.5 to 8, thus achieving his goal. The student also maintained his positive changes at the 7-week follow-up. Qualitative feedback from school staff also demonstrated that the student had improved behaviors in school.

Study Design: Case Study         

Study Setting: School

Cortes, B., Ballesteros, A., Collantes, J., & Aguilar, M. (2016). What makes for good outcomes in solution-focused brief therapy? A follow-up study. European Psychiatry, 33(S1), s232–s233.

Study purpose: To determine which clinical and process variables are most strongly associated with client outcomes at termination of SFBT psychotherapy sessions.

Participants: 74 cases

Inclusion criteria: Individuals who provided a contact telephone number and were at least 6 months since termination.

Methods: Three questionnaire were utilized: (1) The First Sessions Rating Questionnaire; (2) The Last Sessions Ration Questionnaire; and (3) The Follow-up Questionnaire.

Results: 88% of patient cases reached their goals, with 86% of patients having successful termination and 67% having successful follow up. No variables were statistically associated with successful termination and/or follow-up.

Study Design: Quantitative         

Study Setting: Mental Healthcare

Kim, J.S., Brook, J., Akin, B.A. (2016) Solution-Focused Brief Therapy With Substance-Using Individuals: A Randomized Controlled Trial Study. Research on Social Work Practice, 28(4), 452-462. doi: 10.1177/1049731516650517

Study purpose: To examine the effectiveness of solution-focused brief therapy intervention on substance abuse and trauma-related problems.

Participants: Parents who have had their children removed from their custody and into foster care by child welfare services (CWS), have been referred by CWS for substance use treatment, and have a case plan goal of family reunification

Inclusion criteria: (1) families must have child(ren) placed in out-of-home care with a goal of reunification at the time of recruitment, parental/guardian drug use must contribute to reason why child(ren) was placed in out-of-home care, (3) families must have at least one parent who met DSM criteria for substance use disorder at time of removal; (4) parents/guardians must be over the age of 18; and (5) parents/guardians must consent to participate.

Methods: A randomized controlled trial design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of SFBT in primary substance se treatment services for child welfare involved parents in outpatient treatment for substance use disorders. Mixed linear models were used to test within- and between- group changes using intent-to-treat analysis.

Results: Both groups decreased on the Addiction Severity Index-Self-Report and the Trauma Symptom Checklist-40. The between group effect sizes were not statistically significant on either measures, thus SFBT produced similar results as the research supported treatments the control group received. Results support the use of SFBT in treatment substance use and trauma and provide an alternative approach that is more strengths based and less problem focused.

Study Design: Randomized Controlled Trial   

Study Setting: Outpatient Services

Mirzavand, A., Riahi, M., Mirzavand, A., & Malekitabar, M. (2016). Effectiveness of Solution-Focused Therapy on Married Couples’ Burnout. Iranian Journal of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, 10(4). https://doi.org/10.17795/ijpbs-4983

Study purpose: To investigate the effectiveness of Solution-Focused Therapy on couple burnout among couples referred to Shahryar city court for divorce.

Participants: 24 couples applying for divorce who had referred to the family court and dispute resolution city council during May and June of 2014

Inclusion criteria: Inclusion criteria were as follows: (1) Having experienced marital burnout; (2) not having participated in SFT meetings; (3) not utilizing other treatments; (4) minimum education required. Participants were excluded from the study if they had more than two absences from treatment sessions and failed to perform group assignments.

Methods: Use of the Pines’ couple burnout scale via a pretest-posttest with a control group. All subjects answered the scale, and then the experimental group received intervention of Solution-focused therapy for eight, ninety-minute sessions. At posttest stage, the two groups answered the scale again. Data of this research were analyzed via multiple covariance analysis.

Results: Significant difference between experimental and control group between the means of marital burnout, meaning that the solution-focused intervention therapy reduced marital couples’ burnout in the experimental group.

Study Design: Pre-posttest design with a control group       

Study Setting: Marriage & Family Counseling

Neipp, M. C., Beyebach, M., Nuñez, R. M., & Martínez‐González, M. C. (2016). The effect of solution‐focused versus problem‐focused questions: A replication. Journal of marital and family therapy, 42(3), 525-535. https://doi.org/10.1111/jmft.12140

Study purpose: Provide a cross-cultural replication of Grant (2012) findings on differential impact of problem- versus solution-focused questions

Participants: 204 students of a Spanish university (107 nursing students and 97 psychology students). Mean age was 20.5 years old, with 57 males and 168 females.

Inclusion criteria: European, Spanish-speaking nonclinical sample

Methods: Participants were randomly assigned to the problem- or solution-focused conditions, with both groups having participants of equal age, marital status, and gender. Participants were asked to: (1) describe a real personal problem they experienced; (2) complete a set of online measures; (3) respond to questions specific to the condition assigned, as designed by Grant (2012); and (4) complete a second set of online measures. The online measures assessed affect, self-efficacy, and goal approach. Data were analyzed using a 2×2 repeated measures ANOVA, with one between-subjects factor and one within-subjects factor. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) of Time 2 scores was utilized to control for differences in Time 1 scores.

Results: Negative affect decreased significantly between time points in the solution-focused condition, whereas there was no significant change in the problem-focused condition. Average self-efficacy and goal approach scores increased significantly between time points for both conditions; however increased more in the solution-focused condition. Participants who were asked to answer the solution-focused questions opposed to participants who were asked to answer problem-focused questions experienced increased in the majority of variables of interest, demonstrating support for use of solution-focused practices.

Study Design: Pre-posttest design with a control group       

Study Setting: College/University

Pan, P. J. D., Deng, L.-Y. F., Tsia, S., Jiang, J.-R. K., & Wang, Y. J. (2016). Qualitative study of a Solution-Focused Training program for Taiwanese military instructors. Psychological Reports, 118(2), 626–648. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033294116639807

Study purpose: This study explored Taiwanese military instructors’ perceptions of a training program using a solution-focused approach (SFA) and its initial application to students with behavior problems

Participants: 25 military instructors from northern Taiwan

Methods: Focus groups, weekly training notes, and primary researcher’s field notes served as sources of qualitative data. A grounded theory approach was used to analyze data.

Results: Qualitative data suggest that instructors felt positive and excited about learning the SFA program and found it helpful. Existing weaknesses in training include a need for more practice time, need for further identification of problems, and only focusing on future problem solving but not on past experiences.

Study Design: Qualitative

Study Setting: Military

Zhai, Y., & Zhu, Y. (2016). Study of effect on solution-focused approach in improving the negative emotion of surgical patients in department of vascular surgery. Pakistan Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 29(2), 719–722.

Study purpose: To understand how a solution-focused approach can improve negative emotions of patients after receiving vascular surgery.

Participants: 120 patients treated with vascular surgery: 81 male patients ranging from 33-65 years old and 39 female patients ranging from 32-62 years old.

Inclusion criteria: Patients treated with vascular surgery from January 2014 – December 2015.

Methods: Patients were randomly divided into the control and observation group. The control group received routine nursing mode and procedure of nursing according to the patient’s type and location of the disease and treatment of choice. The observation group received a solution-focused approach. Pre and post-intervention (first and second week), both groups completed the POMS scale to measure emotional state (e.g., fatigue, nervousness, depression, energy) and the SCL-90 to measure patient’s mental state (e.g., somatization, hostile, anxiety). Independent tests and chi-square tests were conducted.

Results: The observation group scored better at the first and second week post-intervention than the control group. For example, the observation group scores for fatigue, tension, anger, depres sion and panic scores were statistically significantly different from the control group.

Study Design: Pre-posttest with randomization         

Study Setting: Hospital

Bond, C., Woods, K., Humphrey, N., Symes, W., & Green, L. (2013). Practitioner Review: The effectiveness of Solution Focused Brief Therapy with children and families: A systematic and critical evaluation of the literature from 1990–2010. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 54(7), 707–723. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12058

Study purpose: To assess the effectiveness of SFBT in relation to work with children and families and identify what SFBT is used to address in relation to child and family problems.

Inclusion Criteria: 44 databases and consultations with experts were utilized to identify SFBT studies published between 1990 and 2010 that focused on the effectiveness of SFBT for working with children ages 0-18 and their families.

Methods: Studies were screened using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). 8,701 records were screened and 83 studies were selected to be included in the final review. Studies were coded utilizing a pre-determined coding framework, collecting both descriptive and evaluative information.

Results: Results from the study suggest that SFBT is utilized for addressing children with internalized problem behaviors and/or external problem behaviors and other purposes such as to build therapeutic alliance, in reducing maltreatment of children, and for children with learning disabilities.

Study Design: Systematic Review

SFBT Research Until March 2017 (Evaluation List Dr. Alasdair Macdonald)

Download Alasdair Macdonald’s Evaluation List (PDF)

We are very grateful that Dr. Alasdair Macdonald, SFBT psychiatrist, therapist and supervisor, maintained the following list of SFBT research voluntary until 2017.

SOLUTION-FOCUSED BRIEF THERAPY EVALUATION LIST – 03/11/17

More than 2800 publications annually in English and at least 12 other languages. Currently 10 meta-analyses; 7 systematic reviews; 325 relevant outcome studies including 143 randomised controlled trials showing benefit from solution-focused approaches with 92 showing benefit over existing treatments. Of 100 comparison studies, 71 favour sft. Effectiveness data are also available from over 9000 cases with a success rate exceeding 60%; requiring an average of 3 – 6.5 sessions of therapy time.

Approved by US Federal Government: www.samhsa.gov; SAMHSA – The National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP). State of Washington; State of Oregon www.oregon.gov/DHS; State of Texas is examining evidence. Minnesota, Michigan and California have organisations using SF. Finland has an MSc in SFT (awarded in England) and Singapore has an approved accreditation programme. Canada has a registration body for practitioners and therapists. Sweden, Poland, Germany and Austria recognise it within their systemic practice qualification. Wales (UK) includes it in their primary mental health programme. 

Many recent publications were in Persian, Finnish, French, German, Indonesian, Korean, Thai and Turkish. By 2014 there were 180 publications in Chinese ((including 60 from Taiwan) as against 45 in 2009. So this evaluation list confirms the value of the model but is no longer sufficient in itself.

META-ANALYSES

Carr A, Hartnett D, Brosnan E, Sharry J (2016) Parents Plus systemic, solution-focused parent training programs: Description, review of the evidence-base, and meta-analysis. Family Process. Parents Plus (PP) programs are systemic, solution-focused, group-based interventions designed as both prevention interventions and as treatment programs for families with child-focused problems. 6-9 group sess with 8-12 participants. Group sess 2 hours; programs span 2-3 months. 17 studies: 919 parents engaged in PP training and 440 were in waiting list control (WLC) or treatment as usual (TAU) control groups.  6 RCT, 6 non-randomized controlled trials, 5 uncontrolled single group outcome studies. Dropout rates before post-treatment assessment ranged from 2-33%. Meta-analysis of 10 controlled studies: effect size 0.58. Pooled effect sizes: child behavior problems: PP clients better than approximately 73% of controls; goal attainment: PP clients better than 94% of controls; parental satisfaction: PP clients better than 80% of controls; parental stress: PP clients better than 70% of controls. ‘In most studies follow-up assessments showed that gains were maintained a number of months later.’ (alan.carr@ucd.ie)

Gong H, Hsu WS (2016) The effectiveness of solution-focused group therapy in ethnic Chinese school settings: a meta-analysis. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy 1-27.
24 studies of sf group therapy from Taiwan and China; meta-analysis. The overall effect size of SFGT’s immediate and follow-up (2 wk – 6 mon) effects were 1.03 and 1.09 respectively. There were no significant correlations between publication year or group size in SFGT’s immediate effect. The overall SFGT immediate effect size was large for all school levels, except for junior high school (d=.61). The overall SFGT immediate effect size for internalizing behavior problems was 1.06, and for family and relationship problems it was .94. SF moves from traditional Confucian principles while saving ‘face’, normalises, is pragmatic, supports interdependence. The effectiveness of SFGT on junior high school needs further study. (weisuhsu@ntnu.edu.tw) (Chinese)

Gong H, Hsu WS (2015) A meta-analysis on the effectiveness of solution-focused brief therapy: evidences from mainland and Taiwan. Studies of Psychology and Behaviors (CSSCI) 13(6): 709-803. 33 studies, total 1147 participants. 33 studies from Taiwan and China:1147 subjects. Overall effect size 0.99; school 1.01; medical settings 0.94; mainland 1.03; Taiwan 0.92. Overall 1.07 at follow-up. No correlation with year of publication. Effective for different kinds of problems and improves clients ability to solve problems by themselves. (weisuhsu@ntnu.edu.tw) (Chinese)

Kim Dong Il, Lee Hye Eun, Park Eunji (2017) The Effect of Solution – Focused Group Counseling: Effect Size Analysis by Multilevel Meta – Analysis. Research in Counseling 18(1):157-179. Meta-analysis of studies of group counselling using SFBT from 2001-2016: 922 dissertations and 164 journal articles. 37 papers found: 114 effect sizes. Mainly emotional, social and behavioural problems; overall effect size 1.223 (large effect). High school students did better than adults and more SFBT techniques led to better outcomes. Groups from six to 10 sessions or less than one hour per session were more effective. (Korean)

Kim JS (2008). Examining the effectiveness of solution-focused brief therapy: a meta-analysis. Research on Social Work Practice 18:107-116. 22 studies; many factors examined. Small effects in favour of sft; best for personal behaviour change, effect size estimate .26 (sig. p<.05). Thus sft is equivalent to other therapies. (Dissertation: Examining the Effectiveness of Solution-focused Brief Therapy: A Meta-Analysis Using Random Effects Modeling. University of Michigan database. Up to 6.5 sessions required. Competence in sft requires >20 hours of training?)  (johnny.kim@du.edu)

Kim JS, Franklin C, Zhang Y, Liu X, Qu Y, Chen H (2015). Solution-Focused Brief Therapy in China: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work, 24(3):187-201. 113 studies: experimental / quasi-experimental design; Chinese language and publication; internalizing problems. 9 eligible studies; random effects meta-analysis: SFBT effective, effect sizes ranging from g = 0.49 to 3.22. Pooled effect size estimates strongly favor SFBT (g = 1.26; P<0.001). Implications for the use of SFBT among ethnic minority populations are discussed. DOI:10.1080/15313204.2014.991983

Park Jung-im (2014) Meta-analysis of the effect of the solution-focused group counseling program for elementary school students. Journal of the Korea Contents Association 14(11): 476-485. Master`s theses, doctoral dissertations, and journal articles published in Korea up to May 2014 were systematically reviewed. 20 studies were eligible for the inclusion criteria. The mean effect sizes and test for homogeneity of effect size (Q-statistic) were analyzed by using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software 2.0. Main findings: average effect sizes for Solution Focused Group Counseling Program were ES 1.61 in self-esteem, ES 1.35 in school adjustment capacity, ES 1.07 in interpersonal relationship and ES 1.03 in self-efficacy. Moderating variables were focus on self-esteem and sessions of one hour. URL: http://www.dbpia.co.kr/Article/3535871

Stams GJJ, Dekovic M, Buist K, de Vries L (2006) Effectiviteit van oplossingsgerichte korte therapie: een meta-analyse (Efficacy of solution focused brief therapy: a meta-analysis). Gedragstherapie 39(2):81-95. (Dutch; abstract in English).   21 studies; many factors examined. Small to medium effect size 0.37; better than no treatment; as good as other treatments. Best results for personal behaviour change, adults, residential / group settings. Recent studies show strongest effects. Shorter than other therapies; respects client autonomy. (G.J.J.M.Stams@uva.nl) (Short version of Stams 2006 and Kim 2008 in Franklin C, Trepper T, Gingerich WJ, McCollum E. (eds) Solution-focused Brief Therapy: A Handbook of Evidence-Based Practice. Oxford University Press: New York 2011.)

Suitt KG, Franklin C, Kim J (2016) Solution-Focused Brief Therapy With Latinos: A Systematic Review. Journal of Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work 25(1):50-67. Reviews all the published and non-published outcome studies that were randomized controlled trials (RCTs) or quasi-experimental designs on solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) conducted with Latinos within the United States and Latin America. Data search: 2277 papers; 44 studies met criteria for full-text review; 6 studies (398 individuals) met criteria for this systematic review. Two studies in adult behavioural health, 3 in children and adolescents in school, 1 study with couples. In all studies there were positive outcomes on the effects of SFBT on standardized measures and participant goals. DOI: 10.1080/15313204.2015.1131651 (kgonzale@uc.cl)

Zhang Anao, Franklin C, Currin-McCulloch J, Park S, Kim J (2017) The effectiveness of strength-based, solution-focused brief therapy in medical settings: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. J Behav Med. Search 5 databases, 4 journals, 3 websites and reference lists for SFBT in any healthcare setting that primarily focuses on patients’ physical wellbeing for psychosocial, behavioural and functional outcomes: final sample 9 studies. Combining outcomes indicated an overall significant effect of SFBT for health-related psychosocial outcomes (d = 0.34, p\.05.) and a nearly significant outcome for health-related behavioral outcomes (d = 0.28, p = .06), but not for functional health outcomes. DOI 10.1007/s10865-017-9888-1  (zhanganao@utexas.edu)

SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS

Bond C, Woods K, Humphrey N, Symes W, Green L (2013) The effectiveness of solution focused brief therapy with children and families: a systematic and critical evaluation of the literature from 1990–2010. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry doi: 10.1111/jcpp.12058.
38 studies included: 9 applied SFBT to internalizing child behaviour problems, 3 applied SFBT to both internalizing and externalizing child behaviour problems, 15 applied the approach to externalizing child behaviour problems and 9 evaluated the application of SFBT in relation to a range of other issues. Provides tentative support for the use of SFBT; particularly effective as an early intervention when presenting problems are not severe. (Caroline.Bond@manchester.ac.uk)

Corcoran J, Pillai V (2007) A review of the research on solution-focused therapy. British Journal of Social Work 10:1-9. 10 quasi-experimental studies, all in English: included on the basis of: statistics / design / follow-up / numbers. Only 2 follow-up studies. Moderate or high effect size in 4 studies. Are qualified workers better than students? (jcorcora@vcu.edu)

Franklin C, Zhang Anao, Froerer A, Johnson S (2016) Solution Focused Brief Therapy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Summary of Process Research.  Journal of Marital and Family Therapy. Systematic review of the process research on solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT). Searches: published and unpublished studies in English across 5 databases, 5 major journals, 2 book chapters and 4 websites to locate studies that investigate why and how SFBT works. 33 studies that used various research methods were located and included for further analysis using a meta-summary approach. The findings supported the significance of the co-construction process within SFBT and the effects of specific types of SFBT techniques. The most empirical support was found for the strength-oriented techniques in comparison to the other techniques and for the co-construction of meaning. Current studies require replications with larger samples and experimental designs that study SFBT process in relationship to outcomes. (CFranklin@mail.utexas.edu) DOI: 10.1111/jmft.12193

Gingerich WJ, Eisengart S (2000) Solution focused brief therapy: a review of the outcome research. Family Process 39:477-498. Fifteen outcome studies: 5 strong, 4 moderately strong, 6 weak. (Updated version:www.gingerich.net). (wallace.gingerich@case.edu)

Gingerich WJ, Peterson LT (2013) Effectiveness of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy: A Systematic Qualitative Review of Controlled Outcome Studies. Research on Social Work Practice 23(3): 266-283. All available controlled outcome studies of SFBT: 43 studies were abstracted: 32 (74%) of the studies reported significant positive benefit from SFBT; 10 (23%) reported positive trends. The strongest evidence of effectiveness came in the treatment of depression in adults where four separate studies found SFBT to be comparable to well-established alternative treatments. Three studies examined length of treatment and all found SFBT used fewer sessions than alternative therapies. The studies reviewed provide strong evidence that SFBT is an effective treatment for a wide variety of behavioral and psychological outcomes and it may be briefer and therefore less costly than alternative approaches. (http://rsw.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/01/22/1049731512470859)
DOI: 10.1177/1049731512470859

Kim JS, Franklin C (2009) Solution-focused brief therapy in schools: A review of the outcome literature. Children and Youth Services Review 31(4): 464-470. An extension of Kim (2008) examining 7 studies of sft in school settings. This review suggest that sft may be effectively applied with at-risk students in a school setting, specifically helping to reduce the intensity of negative feelings and to manage conduct problems and externalizing behavioral problems. Age ranges for applications in schools appeared flexible, from 5th graders to older children and adolescents.
Lovelock H, Matthews R, Murphy K (2011) Evidence-based psychological interventions in the treatment of mental disorders: a literature review. Australian Psychological Associationhttp://www.psychology.org.au/Assets/Files/Evidence-Based-Psychological-Interventions.pdf SFBT shows Level II effectiveness for depression, anxiety and substance misuse.

PUBLISHED FOLLOW-UP STUDIES (325):

RANDOMISED CONTROLLED STUDIES (143)

Abbasi A, Mohammadi M, Zahrakar K, Davarniya R, Babaeigarmkhani M. (2017) Effectiveness of Solution- Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) on Reducing Depression and Increasing Marital Satisfaction in Married Women. Iran Journal of Nursing, 30(105):34-46. Random: 15 exp 6 sess sf groups / 15 controls no therapy. Significant improvement at follow-up. URL: http://ijn.iums.ac.ir/article-1-2420-en.html (Persian)

Amiri E, Karshky IH, Asghari M (2014) The effectiveness of a solution based on a public health advisory single parent high school boys. Journal of Psychological Methods and Models 15(4): 37-58. 30 first year boys; random 15 exp 7 group sess; 15 controls no intervention. Significant increase in general health; no effect on social withdrawal. (Persian) (amirieb@chmail.ir)

Asadi Hasanvand A, Sodani M, Abbaspour Z (2017) The effectiveness of solution – focused group therapy on improve the children quality of life. J Urmia Nurs Midwifery Fac. 15 (6):449-459.

Random: 15 exp: 7 sf groups / 15 no intervention. Significant improvement in exp at 1 mon follow-up. URL: http://unmf.umsu.ac.ir/article-1-3115-en.html  (sodani_m@scu.ac.ir) (Persian)

Ahramian A, Ahmadi A, Shamseddinilory S, Yousefi S, Abdolahi S, Soudani M, Ghazi G (2014) The effectiveness of group training of solution-focused approach on marriage adjustment of couples that call on Bushehr family counseling centers. Terapevticheskii Arkhiv 86(1s). Couples; randomised; 22 exp sf groups / 22 controls. Exp significant improvement in marital adjustment. (Persian)

Asadolahi J, Kimiayee SA, Mashhadi A (2015) Comparison and Effectiveness of Stress Reduction Methods based on Mindfulness and Solution-focused Therapy on Reducing Aggression and Marital Conflicts in couples with addict spouses. Poster presentation, 9th International Congress of Addiction Sciences 2015-09-09. 15 couples; husband drug addict. Random: 2 exp groups sf + mindfulness 8 sess / 1 control group no intervention. Significant reduction in aggression and marital conflicts at post-test. (Persian)

Ateş B (2016). Effect of Solution Focused Group Counseling for High School Students in Order to Struggle with School Burnout. Journal of Education and Training Studies 4(4), 27-34. Random; volunteers; 15 exp 6 sess sft / 15 controls no intervention. Significant improvement (P<0.01) on School Burnout Scale regardless of gender. doi:10.11114/jets.v4i4.1254 (Turkish)

Ateş B, Gençdoğan B (2017) Analyzing the effects of solution focused group psychological counseling upon university students’ coping with social phobia. Inonu University Journal of the Faculty of Education, 18(1): 188-203. University students: random: 16 exp sf group counseling / 16 no intervention.  Significant reduction in social phobia scores in exp group independently of time and social maturation.  DOI: 10.17679/inuefd.306513

Attari Y, Mohammadi K, Mehrabizadeh Honarmand M (2009) A study of solution–focused training in group counseling on increasing marital adjustment. Journal of Psychological Achievements (Journal of Education & Psychology) 4(1): 51-66. 30 couples randomly selected from 43 attending. 15 exp sft; 15 controls no intervention. Improved marital adjustment in exp group. (Persian)

Azra T, Ahmadi A, Vahideh U (2014) The Comparison of Cognitive-Behavioral Counseling and Solution-Oriented Counseling on Women’s Sexual Satisfaction in Isfahan. Journal of Women and Society 19(5): 67-83. Random; 45 women divided into 2 exp group: 6 sess sf; and control group: 8 sess CBT. Post test both improved women’s sexual satisfaction (p<0.01) but CBT was more effective. (Persian) (Fatehizade@gmail.com)

Baldry E, Bratel J, Dunsire M, Durrant M (2005) Keeping Children with a Disability Safely in their Families. Practice: Social Work in Action 17(3):143-156. 55 care-givers from 40 families in crisis; family-centred intervention programmes (Australia). Objective measures: empowerment, emotional support, parent–child involvement, abuse potential, family functioning, symptom reduction, hope, happiness and worker–client alliance; also qualitative interviews. Significant improvement in abuse potential and emotional support at 6 mon and 12 mon (P<0.001). Symptom reduction and emotional support predicted 86% of variance at 12 mon. Helpful: wholly attentive listening, support, increased parent control/empowerment, validation and maintaining a strengths focus; programmes being family-focused, having 24 hours/phone availability, being home-based, with small case-loads, financial support and a consistency of worker. DOI:10.1080/09503150500285099 (e.baldry@unsw.edu.au)

Bagajan KQ, Khanahmadi O, Chaharborj ZM, Chenaparchi M (2016) The Impact of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy on the Improvement of the Psychological Wellbeing of Family Supervisor Women. International Journal of Social, Behavioral, Educational, Economic, Business and Industrial Engineering 10 (1). Random: 15 exp 5 sf sess / 15 controls no intervention. Significant increase in wellbeing for exp at post-test. (kawe.ghaderi@gmail.com) (Persian) 

Bakhshipour, B, Aryan SK, Karami A, Farrokhi N (2011) The effectiveness of solution-focused therapy on reducing behavioral problems of the elementary and brief therapy and high school students at Sari. Counseling Research And Development 10(37):7-24. Pre-test and post-test on 16 elementary and 16 high school students,City of Sari; randomly selected; assigned in 2 exp and 2 control groups. Children received 8 x 1 hr wkly sessions; adolescents 8 x 1.5 hr wkly sessions. Results indicate that the solution-focused therapy method was effective in reducing the behavioral problems (externalizing) of children and adolescents. (Persian)

Baygul Ş, Raşit A V C (2016) Çözüm Odaklı Kısa Süreli Aile Danışmanlığı Kuramına Dayalı Olarak Geliştirilen Evlilik Programının Çiftlerin Evlilik Uyumlarını Artırmadaki Etkisi/The Effects of Marital Program Developed in Accordance with Solution Focused Brief Family Counseling. Mustafa Kemal Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi 13(36). 8 exp 6 sess sf groups / 8 couples as control. Significant improvement in exp at 1 mon follow-up. (Turkish)

Beauchemin JD (2016) Examining the Effectiveness of a Short-Term Solution-Focused Wellness Group Intervention on Perceived Stress and Wellness among College Students. (Doctoral dissertation, The Ohio State University). 
Random: 25 exp 7 wkly sf groups / 22 controls interpersonal process (IPT) support groups. Significantly less stress and more wellness at post test; not maintained at 6 wk follow-up. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1441647678

Boyer BE, Geurts HM, Prins PJM, Van der Oord S (2014) Two novel CBTs for adolescents with ADHD: the value of planning skills. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 24(9):1075-1090. 159 adolescents (12-17 yrs) with ADHD; random; planning skills training or SFT; motivational Interviewing elements in both. 3 mon follow-up:parent-rated ADHD, planning problems and executive functioning, neuropsychological measures of planning, comorbid symptoms, general functioning and teacher measures. Significant improvement; large effect sizes on all domains. Marginally significant differences were found in favor of the planning-focused treatment: parents and therapists evaluated this treatment more positively than SFT. 
DOI:10.1007/s00787-014-0661-5. (saskia.vanderoord@ppw.kuleuven.be)

Boyer BE, Geurts HM, Prins PJ, Van der Oord S (2015). One-year follow-up of two novel CBTs for adolescents with ADHD. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 1-5. 1 yr follow-up of Boyer et al 2014: 25.9 % of adolescents showed normalized functioning; no difference between groups. So focusing on planning skills is not necessary for improvement or more prolonged planning-focused treatment is needed. doi:10.​1007/​s00787-015-0776-3

Boyer, B. E. (2016). Assessment and treatment of planning skills in adolescents with ADHD (Thesis; University of Amsterdam). Random; 159 adolescents with ADHD; Plan My Life vs SFBT. At 1 yr follow-up both were effective; 26% reached ‘normalized’ functioning.
http://hdl.handle.net/11245/1.523769

Braunstein K, Grant AM (2016) Approaching solutions or avoiding problems? The differential effects of approach and avoidance goals with solution-focused and problem-focused coaching questions. Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice, 1-17. Random: allocating 140 university students in a 2 × 2 (coaching question: SF vs. PF) (goal type: approach vs. avoidance) study. SF questions led to a greater increase in positive affect, self-efficacy and goal progress and a greater decrease in negative affect than PF questions. Contrary to expectations, no differences between approach and avoidance goals on any outcomes. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17521882.2016.1186705

Choesujin, Johyeonchun (2015). Solution – Focused Therapy Program literary effects on self-concept and hopes the promotion of junior high school students. Literature for Therapeutic Research, 5(1):43-66. www.newnonmun.com/article=192302 Middle school: random: 12 exp 10 x literature therapy groups; 12 controls no intervention. Self-concept and hope improved at 5 wk follow-up in exp group. (Korean)

Cockburn JT, Thomas FN, Cockburn OJ (1997) Solution-focused therapy and psychosocial adjustment to orthopedic rehabilitation in a work hardening program. Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation 7:97-106. 25 exp: 6 sft sess vs 23 controls: standard rehabilitation. 68% exp at work within 7 days at 60-day follow-up vs 4% controls. (f.thomas@tcu.edu)

Creswell C, Violato M, Fairbanks H, White E, Parkinson M, Abitabile G, Leidi, A. and Cooper, P. (2017) A randomised controlled trial of Brief Guided Parent-delivered Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and Solution Focused Brief Therapy for the treatment of child anxiety disorders: clinical outcome and cost-effectiveness. The Lancet Psychiatry. ISSN 22150366 (In Press). Randomised: 68 exp Guided Parent-Delivered Cognitive Behavior Therapy (GPD-CBT) / 68 SFBT. Significant reductions in anxiety and depression in both groups at 6 mon follow-up. GPD-CBT cost less to deliver.

Daki J, Savage RS (2010) Solution-Focused Brief Therapy: Impacts on Academic and Emotional Difficulties. Journal of Education Research 103: 309-326. 7 exp received 5 sf groups; 7 controls: academic support only. Significantly larger effect size on 26/38 measures in exp; only 10/38 in controls.

Dastbaz A, Younesi SJ, Moradi O, Ebrahimi M (2014) The Effect of “Solution-Focused” Group Counseling on Adjustment and Self-Efficacy of High School Male Students in Shahriar City. Knowledge & Research in Applied Psychology 15(1) (Continuous No. 55): 90-98. Male high school in Tehran; Random; 30 students; exp 8×90 min sess / controls no intervention. SF group counseling increased overall adjustment and self- efficacy (P<0.01). Emotional factors: no significant difference. http://journals.khuisf.ac.ir/jsr-p/browse.php?a_code=A-10-914-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1  (Persian)

Davrnya R, Zahrakar K (2015) The effectiveness of short-term solution-focused therapy to reduce stress on marital stress. Journal of Ilam University of Medical Sciences of the twenty-second, attachments, 9 Shahrivar 93(18). 20 women referred to mental health service with marital problems in Bojnoord, Iran; randomly allocated to test and control groups; Stockholm-Tehran Marital Stress Scale (STMSS) before and 1 mon after 6 group sessions. short-term, solution-focused therapy, marital stress in women significantly reduce the amount of data .ast meaning as in (F = 25/721, P <0.001) and tracking (F = 23/545, P < 0.001) (Persian) (rezadavarniya@yahoo.com)

Dengai Ying (2016) Application of solution-focused approach in improving the lifestyle of elderly patients with type 2 diabetes. Nursing Administration 16(9). Random: 107 exp sf health education / 107 conventional health education. Diabetes knowledge, self-management, lifestyle, catering management, sports management, blood glucose monitoring, foot care all higher in exp (P <0.01). (Chinese)

Eka DA, Nurhayati E (2015). KONSELING SINGKAT BERFOKUS SOLUSI UNTUK MENINGKATKAN ORIENTASI MASA DEPAN PADA BIDANG PENDIDIKAN. HUMANITAS (Jurnal Psikologi Indonesia), 12(1), 1-11. To improve the future of education orients in adolescents: 7th and 8th grades.  Random: 10 exp 6 sf sess in 2 wks / 10 controls no intervention. Post-test significant improvement in attitude. (Indonesian)

Fanaei Z, Gorji Y, Reza Abedi M (2014) The Effect of Solution-Focused Group Counseling on Internal Motivation of Students of Islamic Azad University of Khomeini Shahr 2012-2014. International Journal of Basic Sciences & Applied Research. 3 (SP): 207-211. Available online: http://www.isicenter.org Randomised: 12 exp: 7 sess group sf / 12 controls usual counseling. Intrinsic motivation of sf group increased (P<0.01). (Persian) (Zohreh.Fanaei@iaukhsh.ac.ir)

Farhady, M., Ahramian, A., Nooralizadeh, M. and Sudani, M (2014) The Effectiveness of Group Training of Solution-focused Approach in Happiness of Couples. J. Life Sci. Biomed4(5):395-400. Iran: 230 couples; 92 scored less than 40-42 in Revised Oxford Happiness Inventory; randomly divided 22 exp / 22 controls. 7 group sess over 2 months; controls no intervention. 1 mon follow-up. Sig improvement in exp group. Appears that SF was used in a directive fashion. (Persian) (Farhady.a@gm)

Froeschle JG, Smith RL, Ricard R (2007) The Efficacy of a Systematic Substance Abuse Program for Adolescent Females. Professional School Counseling 10:498-505. 32 exp / 33 controls; pre-test post-test design. 16 wkly sft group / action learning / mentoring. Drug use, attitudes to use, knowledge of drugs, home and school behaviour all improved significantly. (jefroeschle@msn.com)

Fuyan Yu, Liu Liyu, Li Yuemeng, Wang Jinlan (2017) Nonalcoholic fatty liver patients focus on the model of health education. Journal of Nursing Science 32(7). Random: 75 patients sf programme / 75 controls usual health education. At 3 mon, significant differences in diet, exercise and health education (P <0.05, P <0.01), Doi:10.3870/j.issn.1001-4152.2017.07.081 (Chinese)

Gitipasand Z, Arian Kh, Karami Abou Alfazl (2008) The effect of group counseling using solution-focused therapy procedure on reduction of mother-daughter conflicts. Counseling research and development 7(27): 63-80. 24 of 36 student volunteers randomised to 12 exp: 8 sf groups / 12 control no intervention. Mother-daughter conflicts decreased in exp group. (Persian)

Golmohamadi M, Kimiyaee SA (2015) The Effectiveness of Group Counseling Based on Solution-Therapy Focused on Academic Motivation among High School Student with Under Achievement. Research in Education 1(2):55-62. Male students, underachieving; randomised; 15 exp 8 sess sf groups; 15 controls no intervention.  Effective in increasing academic motivation. (Persian)

Grant AM, Curtayne L, Burton G (2009) Executive coaching enhances goal attainment, resilience and workplace well-being: a randomised controlled study. J Positive Psychology, 4(5): 396-407. Training workshop for 41 executives; Group 1 (20): cbt/sf coaching at once; Group 2 (21): 10 week wait before coaching. Enhanced goal attainment, resilience and workplace well-being; reduced depression and stress once each group had completed the programme. (anthonyg@psych.usyd.edu.au)

Grant AM (2012) Making Positive Change: A Randomized Study Comparing Solution-Focused vs. Problem-Focused Coaching Questions. J Systemic Therapies 31(2): 21-35. Random: real problem and set a goal. Measures: positive and negative affect, self-efficacy, goal attainment. 108 participants: problem-focused coaching questions; 117 participants: solution-focused questions including future-oriented question; then second set of measures. Both effective in enhancing goal approach; solution-focused group significantly greater increases in goal approach, positive affect, decreased negative affect, and increased self-efficacy; and generated significantly more action steps to help them reach their goal. Although real-life coaching conversations are not solely solution-focused or solely problem-focused, agents of change should aim for a solution-focused theme.

Green LS, Grant AM, Rynsaardt J (2007) Evidence-based life coaching for senior high school students: building hardiness and hope.’ International Coaching Psychology Review, 2: 24-32. Randomised: 25 exp; 10 individual coaching sessions over 28 wks/ 24 controls; no intervention.  Students; ‘ no significant disability; volunteered for program. Exp: standard measures: improve on hope, hardiness, depression but not stress or anxiety.  

Green LS, Norrish JM, Vella-Brodrick DA, Grant AM (2013) Enhancing well- being and goal striving in senior high school students: Comparing evidence-based coaching and positive psychology interventions. InstituteofCoaching.org (Melbourne, Australia) 1 Dec 2013. 73 senior students (male and female) from two selective high schools, Sydney, Australia randomly assigned for ten weeks. 25 cognitive-behavioural, solution focused coaching; 25 Positive Psychology intervention; 24 controls. PPI led to increases in mental well-being, CB-SF coaching increased academic goal striving; no effects were maintained at 9 mon follow-up.

Habibi M, Ghaderi K, Abedini S, Jamshidnejad N (2016). The effectiveness of solution-focused brief therapy on reducing depression in women. International Journal of Educational and Psychological Researches (online). Random: 15 exp 8 wkly sf groups / 15 controls no intervention. Depression significantly less in exp at post-test. (Persian)

Harris MB, Franklin C (2009) Helping Adolescent Mothers to Achieve in School: An Evaluation of the Taking Charge Group Intervention. Children and Schools 31(1): 27-34. Randomised, 33 exp / 40 comparison. Taking Charge group programme added to usual school. Significant post-test improvement in attendance, grades, social problem-solving and coping. Less drop out:3%/20%. (Two smaller studies (n=46, n=23) replicate these findings). (CFranklin@mail.utexas.edu)

Ho Hung, Wu Jingjing, Zhang Xiaoyi, Zhang Jing, Liuyun Yun (2014) Effect of Solution Focused Approach Model on Metabolic Parameters of Patients with T2DM. Chinese General Practice 35. Type 2 diabetes: randomised: 60 exp SFT; 60 controls usual education. 6 mon follow-up: body mass index (BMI), blood pressure (BP), glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), fasting plasma glucose (FBG), 2 h postprandial glucose (2 hPBG), total cholesterol (TC), Triglyceride (TG), high density lipoprotein (HDL), low density lipoprotein (LDL), incidence rate of hypoglycemia. After intervention, TC and LDL between the two group had no statistical significance (P> 0 05); BMI, SBP, DBP, HbA1c, FBG, 2 hPBG, TG and the incidence rate of hypoglycemia in exp were lower than control group; HDL was higher (P <0. 05). doi:10.3969 / j.issn.1007-9572.2014.35.014 (Chinese)

Hossieni Tayyebeh, Amiri Majd Mojtaba, Ghamari Mohammad (2013) The effectiveness of solution-focused group counseling in enhancing marital intimacy of married women. Family Health 1(4):53-63. Married female teachers; random 12 exp: 8 sf group sess / 12 controls: no intervention. Intimacy measure; overall marital intimacy and in intimacy dimensions improved at post-treatment. (Persian)

Hosseinpour N, Jadidi M, Mirzaian B, Hoseiny H (2015). The Efficiency of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy on Adjustment Problems of Female Students in Amol, Iran. International Journal of School Health, 3(1). Random; 15 exp 5 sess / 15 controls no intervention. Increased adjustment of the students (P < 0.0006), as well as increasing 3 subscales of adjustment questionnaire comprising home adjustment (P < 0.0006); health adjustment (P < 0.0006); and social adjustment (P<0.0003); no effect on affective adjustment (P < 0.081). (Persian) DOI: 10.17795/intjsh-27002

Hsu WS, Chen YF, Sun STM, Wu CY, Cheng HC (2009) A study of working alliance, counselor’s effectiveness, and client’s satisfaction of solution-focused real-time webcounseling on Taiwanese college students. Bulletin of Southern Taiwan University 34 (2), 57-70. Real-time webcounseling designed by Information Management of National Chi Nan University, Taiwan. 3 counselors trained. Randomised: 8 students sf; 10 students non-sf; 1-6 weekly sess. Pre-post measures: better scores for alliance and effectiveness after 1st sess for sf. Exp group significantly higher scores for counselor effectiveness and client satisfaction, not alliance. (weisuhsu@ntnu.edu.tw)

Huang Ying Miao, Li Li-xia, Lin Xin-yuan (2016) Application of solution-focused approach in home follow-up management of lumbar disc herniation patients after operation. Nursing Practice and Research 13(15).  Random; 84 patients who underwent lumbar discectomy: exp group sft / control group routine management. 6 mon follow-up: exp higher self-care, functional status and quality of life scores (P<0.05). (Chinese) doi:10.3969 / j.issn.1672-9676.2016.15.002

Iman Seyyed Moharrami, Bahramali Ghanbari, Hashem Abad, Mohammad Javad Asghari, Ebrahim Abad (2014) The Effect of Solution-Focused Group Counseling on Family Function and Marital Satisfaction. Biannual Journal of Applied Counseling 5 (1):23-40. Random: married women referred for counseling: 10 exp 8 sess sf groups / 10 controls no intervention. Significant improvement in family function and marital satisfaction in exp. (iman_moharrami@yahoo.com) (Persian)

Jalali F, Hashemi S, Kimiaei S, Hasani A, Jalali M (2017) The effectiveness of solution-focused brief couple therapy on marital satisfaction among married prisoners and their wives. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 0306624X17733662. Random: 25 couples exp SFBCT / 50 no intervention. Significant improvement in marital satisfaction at posttest for exp.  https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X17733662

Javanmini L, Kimiaee SA, Abadi BAGH (2013) The Study of Solution-Focused Group Counseling in Decreasing Depression among Teenage Girls. International Journal of Psychological Studies 5:1. All teenage girls in Sahneh, Iran: 20 girls chosen by stratified random sampling and then randomly assigned to exp and control groups. BDI before and after 8 sessions group counseling vs ‘irrelevant’ skills teaching; again 1 mon after. Reduction in BDI score significant 0.01 at follow-up. doi:10.5539/ijps.v5n1p105 (Persian) (alma_javan@yahoo.com)

Jiwon, Gimhyeongmo (2015) The Effects of Solution-focused Group Art Therapy on School Life Adjustment of the Maladjusted Adolescents. Journal of the Korea Contents Association15(5): 661-673. Randomised 20 students with difficulties to adapt to middle school. Exp 10: 12 sess sf group art therapy / control 10 no intervention. Improved adaptation at post-test. (Korean) (www.dbpia.co.kr/Article/3679218)

Joker H, Ghaderi Z. (2015). Effectiveness of a solution-based counseling on students self-perception. Educational Research and Reviews, 10(15), 2141-2145. High school students; random; 15 exp 30 sess group counseling / 15 controls no input. Self-perception questionaire 1 mon after: increased self-perception and self-esteem.  DOI: 10.5897/ERR2015.2332 (Persian)

Jonas B, Leuschner F, Tossmann P (2016) Efficacy of an Internet-based Intervention for burnout: A randomized controlled trial in the German Working Population. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping 1-27. Random; individuals with symptoms of burnout: 18 exp internet-based sf/cbt / 18 wait-list controls. Burnout and dep/anxiety/stress at 3 mon: significant differences in favor of the intervention group in depression (d=0.66), cynicism (d=0.87) and personal accomplishment (d=0.75). Need to repeat with larger samples. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2016.1233324

Jyrä K, Knekt P, Lindfors O (2016) The impact of psychotherapy treatments of different length and type on health behaviour during a five-year follow-up. Psychotherapy Research 3307: 1-13. 367 patients monitored for health behaviour (alcohol consumption, body mass index), serum cholesterol (total and HDL), smoking and exercise) for 5 yrs. Effectiveness of sft, short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy, long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (LPP) examined in randomized clinical trial, while LPP and non-randomized psychoanalysis (PA) group were compared in a naturalistic design. At follow-up, improvement was seen with regard to alcohol consumption, serum HDL cholesterol, and smoking in the LPP and PA groups. No notable differences in health behaviour between the two groups were found. During the last two years of the follow-up, changes towards higher alcohol consumption and higher total serum cholesterol levels were observed in the short-term therapy groups. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2015.1112928

Karami K, Nazari AN, Zahrakar K (2012) The effects of group solution-focused counseling on reducing parent-child conflict in adolescents. Biannual Journal of Applied Counselling 3(1): 77-92. 180 students; 30 selected as one SD above mean on Conflict Tactics Scale. Random 15 exp: 8 x 90 min group sess; 15 controls. Post-test significant reduction in physical and verbal aggression and reasoning ability. (Persian) (karamikhabat22@yahoo.com)

Keyvan Zahedi Kasrineh, Fatehizadeh M, Fatemeh Bahrami, Jazayeri (2017) The impact of parenting skills training to solution-focused approach to behavioral problems in preschool children. Behavioral Sciences Research 14(3):348-355. Random; 16 families exp 6 sess sf groups / 16 no training. Significant improvement in all areas of behaviour at post-test. http://rbs.mui.ac.ir/index.php/jrbs/article/view/1594 (Persian)

Khadivi E, Namani E (2016). Effectiveness of short-term solution-focused group training in couple burnout among the spouses of people freed from addiction. Health Sciences 5(9S):262-267. Selected sample of 30 women with husbands freed from addiction randomised to 15 exp 8 wkly group sft / 15 no intervention. Significant reduction (P<0.001) in couple burnout in exp.

Kim JS, Brook J, Akin BA (2016). Solution-Focused Brief Therapy With Substance-Using Individuals A Randomized Controlled Trial Study. Research on Social Work Practice.
Parents at outpatient clinic for substance abuse and trauma-related problems. Random; 31 exp SFBT / 33 controls other evidence-based treatments. Both groups decreased on Addiction Severity Index and the Trauma Symptom Checklist-40. Between group effect sizes were not significant. doi:10.1177/1049731516650517  (johnny.kim@du.edu)

King, Z, Reza A (2014) The effectiveness of training solution-focused approach to increasing the level of social adjustment of adolescent identity crisis. Journal of Women and Society 17.5 (2014): 21-40. Random; 20 exp sf training / 20 controls no training. ‘Significant improvement’ in social adjustment at post-test. (Persian) (aoji62@yahoo.com)

Knekt P, Lindfors O (2004) A randomized trial of the effect of four forms of psychotherapy on depressive and anxiety disorders: design, methods and results on the effectiveness of short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy and solution-focused therapy during a one-year follow-up. Studies in social security and health, no. 77. The Social Insurance Institution, Helsinki, Finland. Randomised comparison study; 93 sft / 98 short-term psychotherapy; problems >1 yr. Sft 43% (mood), 26% (anxiety) recovery at 7 mon maintained at 12 mon; short-term 43%, 35%; no significant difference between therapies but sft faster for depression; short-term better for ‘personality disorder’. Avg sft 10 sess over 7.5 mon; short-term 15 sess over 5.7 mon. No figures for partial recovery; no apparent social class difference. (www.kela.fi/research)

Knekt P, Lindfors O, Härkänen T, Välikoski M, Virtala E, Laaksonen MA et al. (2008). Randomized trial on the effectiveness of long-and short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy and solution-focused therapy on psychiatric symptoms during a 3-year follow-up. Psychological Medicine, 38, 689-703. 326 psychiatric outpatients with mood or anxiety disorders randomly assigned to sft (10 sessions over 7.5 months), short-tem psychodynamic therapy (18.5 sessions over 5.7 months) or long-term psychodynamic therapy (232 sessions over 31,3 months). All three treatments were effective, but auxiliary treatments frequent. At 3-year follow-up, effect sizes for sf 0.81-.87 for depression and .60-.80 for anxiety symptoms. Short-term psychodynamic produced greater depression and anxiety reduction than long-term during first year; sf more depression reduction than long-term during first year. At 3 years, the improvements of both brief therapies still persisted; long-term psychodynamic patients (undergoing continuing therapy) kept improving and outperformed the brief therapies on anxiety, not on depression.

Knekt P, Lindfors O, Virtala E, Härkänen T, Sares-Jäske L, Laaksonen MA (2012)The effectiveness of short- and long-term psychotherapy during a 7-year follow-up.  European Psychiatry 27, Supplement 1,1-x. 326 cases; long (7 yr) follow-up. A reduction in psychiatric symptoms and improvement in work ability and functional capacity was noted in all treatment groups. Short-term therapies more effective than long-term during the first year, whereas long-term therapy more effective after 3 yr follow-up. No notable differences in symptoms or working ability were observed between groups during the last 4 years of follow-up. A total of 80% of the patients in short-term groups and 60% in long-term group used auxiliary treatment. Psychoanalysis was the most effective at 5-year follow-up. Cost-efficiency analysis including social and unemployment costs showed that long-term therapy cost three times as much.

Knekt P, Heinonen E, Harkapaa K, Jarvikoski A, Virtala E, Rissanen J, Lindfors O, Helsinki Psychotherapy Study Group (2015) Randomized trial on the effectiveness of long- and short-term psychotherapy on psychosocial functioning and quality of life during a 5-year follow-up. Psychiatry Research 229(1-2):381–388. 326 outpatients with mood or anxiety disorder: randomized to SFT, short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (SPP) or long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (LPP); 5 yr follow-up from the start of treatment. Short-term therapies improved psychosocial functioning and quality of life more than LPP during the first year; optimism and perceived competence did not differ between therapies. Later sense of coherence and perceived competence showed significantly more improvement in LPP than in short-term therapies. No direct differences between SFT and SPP were noted.

Knekt P, Virtala E, Härkänen T, Vaarama M, Lehtonen J, Lindfors O (2016). The outcome of short-and long-term psychotherapy 10 years after start of treatment. Psychological Medicine, 1-14. Helsinki Psychotherapy Study: 326 randomly assigned to long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (LPP), short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (SPP) or solution-focused therapy (SFT) and were followed for 10 years. Outcome measures: psychiatric symptoms, work ability, personality and social functioning, need for treatment, remission. 74% free from psychiatric symptoms. LPP showed greater reductions in symptoms, greater improvement in work ability and higher remission rates. A similar difference in symptoms and work ability was observed in comparison with SFT after adjustment for violations of treatment standards. No notable differences in effectiveness between SFT and SPP were observed. The prevalence of auxiliary treatment was relatively high, 47% in SFT, 58% in SPP and 33% in LPP, and, accordingly, the remission rates for general symptoms were 55, 45 and 62%, respectively. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0033291715002718 

Knekt P, Lindfors O, Keinänen M, Heinonen E, Virtala E, Härkänen T (2016) The prediction of the level of personality organization on reduction of psychiatric symptoms and improvement of work ability in short versus longterm psychotherapies during a 5year follow-up. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice. Cohort study: 326 outpatients with mood or anxiety disorder; allocated randomly to long-term (LPP) and short-term (SPP) psychodynamic psychotherapy, and solution-focused therapy (SFT). Level of Personality Organisation (LPO) was assessed by interview into neuroses and higher level borderline. Outcome was assessed at 5-year follow-up. For patients receiving SPP, improvement in work ability, symptom reduction, and the remission rate were more in neuroses than in higher level borderline patients.  LPP and SFT showed no notable differences in effectiveness in the two LPO groups. In neuroses improvement was more considerable in the short-term therapy groups during the first year of follow-up, and in higher level borderline patients LPP was more effective after 3 years of follow-up. The remission rate, defined as both symptom reduction and lack of auxiliary treatment, was higher in LPP than in SPP for both the LPO groups considered. DOI: 10.1111/papt.12115 

Knekt P, Lindfors O, Maljanen T (2017) The effectiveness of three psychotherapies of different type and length in the treatment of patients suffering from anxiety disorder. European Psychiatry 41, S777. 50 outpatients with anxiety disorder; randomly assigned to long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (LPP), short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (SPP), and solution-focused therapy (SFT) and were followed for 5 years. The outcome measures were psychiatric symptoms, working ability, need for psychiatric treatment, remission, and cost-effectiveness. No differences in year 1. During the following 3 years, LPP and SFT more effectively reduced symptoms, improved work ability, and elevated the remission rate than SPP. No significant differences between LPP and SFT were seen. At the end of the follow-up, the use of auxiliary treatment was lowest in the SFT group whereas remission rates or changes in psychiatric symptom or work ability did not differ between the groups. The average total direct costs were about three times higher in the LPP group than in the short-term therapy groups. Resource-oriented SFT may be a cost-effective option in this selected patient group, while unconsidered allocation of patients to LPP does not appear to be cost-effective. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpsy.2017.01.1472 

Ko M-J, Yu S-J, Kim Y-G (2003). The effects of solution-focused group counseling on the stress response and coping strategies in the delinquent juveniles. 

Taehan Kanho Hakhoe Chi (Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing; Korean), 33(3), 440-450.  15-18 yr olds on probation. Random, 30 exp 6 sess weekly / 30 control no treat. Better problem coping in exp. (Korean) (Yusook@catholic.ac.kr)

Kokkvoll A, Grimsgaard S, Odegaard R, Flaegstad T, Njolstad I. Single versus multiple-family intervention in childhood overweight—Finnmark Activity School: a randomised trial. Arch Dis Child 97 overweight children aged 6–12 yrs with body mass index (BMI) ≥27.5. Randomised to multiple-family intervention (MUFI) or single-family intervention (SIFI); SF in both interventions. MUFI: 3-day inpatient, follow-up visits, organised physical activity x2 weekly and a 4-day family camp. SIFI: individual counselling and follow-up by nurse. Interim analysis after 12 months showed no between-group difference in terms of BMI or BMI SDS. The MUFI group had a significant decrease in waist circumference compared to the SIFI group.  doi:10.1136/archdischild-2012-303571 
 
Kramer J, Conijn B, Oijevaar P, Riper H (2014) Effectiveness of a Web-Based Solution-Focused Brief Chat Treatment for Depressed Adolescents and Young Adults: Randomized Controlled Trial. J Medical Internet Research16(5):e141. Random; 263 aged 12-22 yrs; depressive symptoms;131 exp Web-based sft PratenOnline / 132 waitlist controls. Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) at 9 wks, 4.5 mon, 7.5 mon. Exp significant improvement in symptoms at 9 wks and in depression at 4.5 mon: 28.2% vs 11.4%, p<.001. Exp further improvement at 7.5 mon; controls not contacted. doi:10.2196/jmir.3261  (jkramer@trimbos.nl)

Li Xiaoli, Luo Hong (2016) The effect of exception / miracle questions in nursing on affects,confidence and actual solving problems. Chinese Journal of Practical Nursing 32(1). 102 nurses; block randomization: focus group exceptions ; focus group miracle; traditional psychotherapy questions.  Significant improvement in self-confidence (P<0.01) in all groups after 1 wk; mood changes most in exception group and then miracle group (64.5 / 42.3 / 37.0, all P <0.05). (Chinese) Doi:10.3760/cma.j.issn.1672-7088.2016.01.017   

Li Yuee, Zhou Jinfang, Deng Yunshan, Wu Yaofan, Liang Lin (2015) Application of solution-focused approach in the psychological intervention of chronic prostatitis patients. Chinese Journal of Human Sexuality (3). Random; 54 exp sf nursing / education; 54 controls TAU. SF-36 and HAD scales; significant improvement in scores and quality of life at 6 mon follow-up. doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1672-1993.2015.03.038 (Chinese)

Li Yu-mei, Huang Ying, Zhang Gui-fen, Gu Fen, Hou Li-li (2017) Effect of Solution-focused Supervision in Health Education for Patients with Severe Pulmonary Diseases.    Journal of Nursing 23:24. Random: 50 exp 6 sf sess for patient and family / 48 TAU.  Significant reduction in anxiety, depression and self-care skills at post-test (P<0.05).  Doi:10.16460/j.issn1008-9969.2016.24.051 (Chinese)

Liang Guang-mei, Pei Jin-fei, Bao Wen-qing (2014) Effectiveness Study of Solution Focused Mode on the Rehabilitation among Young and Middle-aged Patients with First-episode Schizophrenia. Hospital Management Forum 11. Random: 40 exp sf health education / 40 controls routine follow-up care. Scores of all scales of treatment group significantly decreased on discharge and 6 mon later (p < 0.05). (Chinese)

Lindfors O, Knekt P, Heinonen E, Harkanen T, Virtala E, Helsinki Psychotherapy Study Group (2014) The effectiveness of short- and long-term psychotherapy on personality functioning during a 5-year follow-up. Journal of Affective Disorders. Random; 326 patients: SFT (n=97) / short-term psychodynamic (n=101) / long-term (avg 3 yr) psychodynamic (LPP; n=128). Personality functioning improved in all therapy groups at 5 yr follow-up. Both short-term therapies fared better during first year of follow-up. SFT showed more early reduction of interpersonal problems. LPP outperformed SFT at the end of follow-up after adjustment for auxiliary treatment. No differences were noted between the short-term therapies at any point. Auxiliary treatment was used relatively widely which limits generalization to exclusive use of short- or long-term therapy. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2014.10.039 (olavi.lindfors@thl.fi)

Lindforss L, Magnusson D (1997) Solution-focused therapy in prison. Contemporary Family Therapy 19:89-104. 2 randomised studies: (1) Pilot study 14/21 (66%) exp. and 19/21(90%) controls reoffended at 20 mon. (2) 30 exp; 29 controls; 16 mon follow-up. 18 (60%) reoffend in exp., 25 (86%) in control; more drug offences and more total offences in controls.  Avg 5 sess; 2.7 million Swedish crowns saved by reduced reoffending. (lindforss@chello.se; dan.magnusson@brottsforebygganderadet.se)

Liu Fen, Deng Aihui, Wang Huirong et al (2014) Application of solution-focused approach in mental nursing of pregnant women with ante-natal anxiety. Chinese Nursing Research 28: 5A: 1572-1575. Pregnancy with high anxiety scores: randomised: 40 exp: sf approach / 40 controls: TAU. Significantly less anxiety (P<0.01) pre-post and in comparison with controls. Improvements (P<0.01) in mode of delivery, Apgar score, pain, bleeding and lactation for exp. (Chinese)

Ma Jianmin (2015) Focus-solving model used in patients with chronic health. Education Management Journal of Clinical Nursing 4. Chronic hepatitis B; random: 50 exp sf health education / 50 controls routine education. Knowledge significantly increased post-test; liver function improved. Doi: 10.3969 / j.issn.1671-8933.2015.04.017 (Chinese)

Mache S, Vitzthum K, Klapp BF, Groneberg DA (2015) Evaluation of a Multicomponent Psychosocial Skill Training Program for Junior Physicians in Their First Year at Work: A Pilot Study.  Family Medicine 47(9):693-698. 82 German junior physicians; random; 41 exp resilience / CBT / sf counseling; 41 no intervention. 3 mon follow-up: significant improvement on measures of resilience, self-efficacy, optimism and perceived stress. Job satisfaction did not change.

Mache S, Baresi L, Bernburg M, Vitzthum K, Groneberg D (2016) Being prepared to work in Gynecology Medicine: evaluation of an intervention to promote junior gynecologists professionalism, mental health and job satisfaction. Arch Gynecol Obstet. Coping skills training for junior gynecologists: random: 38 exp sf/cbt 12 sess / 40 controls. Exp significant decrease in perceived job stress and emotional exhaustion and more job satisfaction maintained at 6 mon follow-up. Satisfaction with the training also reported. (s.mache@uke.de) doi:10.1007/s00404-016-4223-6

Mache S, Bernburg M, Baresi L, Groneberg DA (2016). Evaluation of self-care skills training and solution-focused counselling for health professionals in psychiatric medicine: a pilot study. International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice 1-6. 72 psychiatrists in psychiatric clinic; random; 36 exp self-care skills training with solution-focused counselling / 36 controls. At 6 mon follow-up exp significant reduction in perceived job stress (p = 0.01), improvements in job satisfaction (p = 0.02), resilience (p = 0.02) and self-efficacy (p = 0.04);  improved quality of physician–patient relationship (e.g. support, conflict management; p < 0.05).  (s.mache@uke.de)  http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13651501.2016.1207085

Maljanen T, Knekt P, Lindfors O, Virtala E, Tillman P, Härkänen T, & Helsinki Psychotherapy Study Group (2015) The cost-effectiveness of short-term and long-term psychotherapy in the treatment of depressive and anxiety disorders during a 5-year follow-up. Journal of Affective Disorders. Outpatients suffering from mood or anxiety disorder; randomized to SFT, short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy or long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (LPP). 8 measures including direct and indirect costs; statistically significant improvements were observed in all groups at follow-up. At first recovery faster in short-term therapy groups but the effectiveness of the LPP was somewhat greater than short-term therapies. The direct costs were much higher so long-term therapy can hardly be regarded as cost-effective compared to short-term therapies. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2015.09.065 326 (timo.maljanen@kela.fi)

Maqami R, Bagajan KQ, Yousefi MM, Moradi S (2016) The Effectiveness of Solution-Focused Group Therapy on Improving Depressed Mothers of Child Abuser Families. International Journal of Social, Behavioral, Educational, Economic, Business and Industrial Engineering, 10(1):291-295. 22 depressed mothers of abused children: random: 11 exp sf 5 sess / 11 controls no intervention. Significantly less depressed in exp group at 1 mon follow-up. (m.m.yousefi.67@gmail.com) (Persian) 

Mao Yu-jie (2013) Application of solution focused approach in psychological intervention for underage girls undergoing abortion. Chinese Journal of Modern Nursing 19:28. Pregnant underage girls randomly divided: 60 exp (SF) / 60 controls (conventional nursing). Significant difference in SCL-90 scores for exp at 4 wks. doi：10.3760/cma.j.issn.1674-2907.2013.28.015 

McGarry J, McNicholas F, Buckley H, Kelly BD, Atkin L, Ross N (2008) The clinical effectiveness of a brief consultation and advisory approach compared to treatment as usual in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services. Clin Child Psychol Psychiatry 13(3):365-376. Randomised: 30 children 3-session brief consultation; 30 treatment as usual. Exp group sustained improvement at 6 mon and less dissatisfaction with wait times.

Monemiyan G, Khoshkonesh A, Poorebrahim T (2016) Effectiveness of solution- focused brief therapy on the reduction of couple burnout and optimizing the quality of marital relationship in married women. Feyz Journal of Kashan University of Medical Sciences 20. Random: 15 exp 8 wkly sess sf groups / 15 no intervention.  Significant (P<0.05) reduction in burnout scores and improvement of quality of relationship in exp. http://feyz.kaums.ac.ir/article-1-3029-en.html (Persian) (gita1392@gmail.com) 

Nameni Ebrahim, Shafi Abadi Abdollah, Delavar Ali, Ahmadi Khodabakhsh (2014) The effectiveness of combination of structural and Solution-focused family therapy in treatment of the substance abuse and the family function improvement. Journal of Sabzevar University of Medical Sciences 21(1): 155-163. Tehran: randomised study: 30 families: 15 exp, 15 control. Combined structural and sft; 80% use reduced at post test (p<0.0001); 66% reduced use at 6 mon (p<0.0001).

Nameni E, Baqaei N, Pardakhti F (2016) Effectiveness of Short-Term Solution-Focused Group Training on Sense of Psychological‎ Coherence among Female Adolescents. Asian Social Science, 12(9), 90. 30 female adolescents with behavioural problems: random: 15 exp 8 wkly sf sess / 15 controls no training.   2 mon follow-up: significant improvement on Sense of Coherence in exp (P<0.05)

Nedim Bal P, Kaya C (2017) Sinif Öğrencilerinin Okul Tükenmişliği Ile Baş Etmede Çözüm Odakli Grupla Psikolojik Danişmanin Etkisi (The Effect Of Solution Focused Group Counseling Program On Dealing With School Exhaustion Of 6th Grade Students). Uluslararası Sosyal Araştırmalar Dergisi (The Journal of International Social Research) 51:10.  www.sosyalarastirmalar.com Issn: 1307-9581 Male students with school exhaustion: random: 8 exp sf 8 wkly groups / 8 controls no treatment. Significant decrease in school exhaustion but not family exhaustion. Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.17719/jisr.2017.1813. (Turkish)

Neipp M-C, Beyebach M, Nunez RM, Martinez-Gonzalez M-C (2015) The effect of solution-focused versus problem-focused questions: a replication. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy. doi: 10.1111/jmft.12140 Replicates Grant 2012. Random: real problem and set a goal. Measures: positive and negative affect, self-efficacy, goal attainment. 102 problem-focused coaching questions / 102 solution-focused questions including the Miracle Question. Problem-focused questions no impact on either positive or negative affect, solution-focused questions reduced negative effect significantly. Self-efficacy and goal approach significantly better in sf group. (neipp@goumh.umh.es)

Neipp M, Nuñez RN, Martínez-González M, Beyebach M (2016). Questions as intervention: differences between solution-focused and problem-focused questions. European Health Psychologist 18(S):968. 107 nursing students of Spanish university described a real-life problem that they wanted to solve: randomly assigned to solution-focused or problem-focused questions. SF questions produced significant increases in self-efficacy (P=.001), action steps (P=.001) and significant decrease in negative affect (P=.046). SF could be effective in the conversations with the patients to facilitate their illness adaptation.

Ngammoh P, Inang P, Koolnaphadol P (2017). Theory of the short-term exit approach to self-sufficiency of undergraduate students in the Faculty of Education, Journal of Education Naresuan University 19(1): 90-102. Random: students below 25th percentile for self-reliance: 8 exp 8 sf groups / 8 controls no intervention. Significant improvement (P<0.05) in exp at 2 wk follow-up. (Thai)

Nystuen P, Hagen KB (2006) Solution-focused intervention for sick-listed employees with psychological problems or muscle skeletal pain: a randomised controlled trial. BMC Public Health 6:69-77. Long-term sickness: 53 exp / 50 controls; 8 sess; 1 yr follow-up. No significant difference in return to work; mental health scores significantly improved. Authors question sample size and chosen measures. (pal@psykologbistand.no; kare.hagen@diakonsyk.no)

Palmer L, Pichot T, Kunovskaya I (2016) Promoting Savings at Tax Time through a Video-Based Solution-Focused Brief Coaching Intervention. Journal of Financial Therapy 7(1):2. Pilot study: impact of video-based sf brief coaching intervention delivered in conjunction with income tax preparation services at a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance location (n = 212). Individuals receiving tax preparation assistance were randomly assigned to one of four treatment groups: 1) control group 2) video-based solution-focused brief coaching 3) discount card incentive 4) both the video-based solution-focused brief coaching and the discount card incentive. Video-based sf brief coaching intervention increased both the frequency and amount of self-reported savings at tax time. Also financial therapy based interventions may be scalable through the use of technology. http://dx.doi.org/10.4148/1944-9771.1103

Pennapha Napa (2015) The consultant theory emphasizes short-term solution to reflect their inner thoughts of employees. Burapha University Journal Online 25(3). Random: 9 workers 6 sf groups / 9 controls. Significantly more self-reflection in exp group at follow-up (P<0.05). (Thai)

Pennapha Gul Napa (2016) Developing emotional stability of adolescents from single-parent families. The advisory group theory focuses on short-term solution. (Thesis) Journal Uttaradit Rajabhat University 11(1): 101-114. Random: junior high school students with low emotional stability. 8 exp sf group / 8 controls no intervention. Significant improvement in exp post-test and 3 wk follow-up (P<0.05). (Thai)

Priebe S, Kelley L, Omer S, Golden E, Walsh S, Khanom H, Kingdon D, Rutterford C, McCrone P, McCabe R. (2015) The effectiveness of a patient-centred assessment with a solution focused approach (DIALOG+) for patients with psychosis – a pragmatic cluster-randomised controlled trial in community care. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics.DIALOG+: computer-mediated intervention:structured assessment of patients’ concerns combined with solution-focused approach. Cluster-randomised controlled trial: 49 community clinicians / 179 patients randomised to use DIALOG+ once per month for six months or active control. Subjective quality of life (SQOL) and secondary outcomes assessed after 3/6/12 months by blinded assessors. Implementation of DIALOG+ was variable with avg 1.8 sessions (SD=1.6) in first 3 mon and 1.1 (SD=1.2) in next 3 mon. Patients in the DIALOG+ arm had better SQOL at three, six, and 12 months (p=0.035, 0.058, 0.014, respectively; Cohen’s d=0.29-0.34). Significantly fewer unmet needs at 3 and 6 mon; fewer general psychopathological symptoms at all time-points; better objective social outcomes at 12 months, with no significant differences on other outcomes. Overall care costs lower in the intervention group. http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/376631/1/EPOS revised 27.03.2015.docx

Ramezandadeh,Soraya (2016) Effect of short-term solutions based on aggression in children and adolescents. Psychological Studies 12(3): 141-159. Two schools: random: 32 high-aggression pupils: 16 exp sft / 16 controls no intervention. Significant decrease in aggression scores at post-test in exp group. DOI: 10.22051/psy.2016.2601 (Persian)

Ramezani S, Khosravi A, Motaghi Z, Hamidzadeh A, Mousavi SA (2016). The effect of cognitive-behavioural and solution-focused counselling on prevention of postpartum depression in nulliparous pregnant women. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 1-11. Randomised: 85 nulliparous pregnant women at 30–35 weeks: 25 4 sess CBT / 25 3 sess sft / 35 controls routine care. Post-partum 5-15 days: Significantly less post-natal depression scores in both treatment groups.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02646838.2016.1266470 (Persian)

Redžep, L, Beersma B, Theeboom T (2014) The Implications of Self-Kindness for the Effectiveness of Coaching: Self-Compassion Moderates the Impact of Solution- vs. Problem-Focused Coaching Questions on Action Planning. Uni Amsterdam masterthesis: http://www.innovatiefinwerk.nl/search/node/redzep 118 students (83 females, 112 Dutch); mean age 21.44 yrs. Randomly assigned to 2 (coaching questions focus: solution- vs. problem-focus) X 2 (self-compassion: low vs. high; students told to adopt one or other by researcher) factorial design. Only 72.8% achieved low self-compassion:results based on 86 students. Problem-focus and high self-compassion interact helpfully; solution-focus worked for all. (ljerka.redzep@student.uva.nl)

Richmond CJ, Jordan SS, Bischof GH, Sauer, EM (2014). Effects of Solution-Focused Versus Problem-Focused Intake Questions on Pre-treatment Change. Journal of Systemic Therapies: Vol. 33, No. 1, pp. 33-47. Two randomized studies: Study 1, clients completed either a standard written intake form with problem-focused questions or an SFBT Short Intake Form. Clients answering the solution-focused questions described significantly more solutions and significantly fewer problems than the comparison group. Study 2: SFBT intake interview with a DSM-based diagnostic intake interview. Clients in the SFBT intake interview improved significantly on the Outcome Questionnaire (OQ) before their first therapy session, whereas those in the diagnostic intake did not. Both studies demonstrated that intake procedures are not neutral and that strength-based questions have advantages, even leading to pre-treatment change. doi: 10.1521/jsyt.2014.33.1.33 (christopherrichmond@ferris.edu)

Saffarpoor S, Farahbakhsh, Kyoumars, Shafiabadi, Abdollah, Pashasharifi, Hasan (2013) A comparison between the effectiveness of solution-focused brief therapy and the quadripartite model of social competence and a fusion model of these two methods on increasing social adjustment of female students residing in Tehran dormitories. Journal of Applied Social Psychology 60 patients, randomised to 3 exp and 1 control groups. All 3 treatment methods were effective; no significant differences were observed between solution-focused and quadripartite model; combination model exhibited superior efficacy. (See also Counseling Research And Development 2011: 10(37):25-44) DOI: 10.1111/j.1559-1816.2013.01036.x  (Persian)

Schade, N., Torres, P. & Beyebach, M. (2011). Cost-efficiency of a brief family intervention for somatoform patients in primary care. Families, Systems, & Health, 29(3): 197-205. 256 somatoform patients from 7 Family Health Centers in Chile randomized to control (TAU) or exp (Brief Family Intervention, mainly sf). All staff of exp at least 40 hours of training in sf, MRI & externalization. BFI patients higher on consumer satisfaction than controls. BFI reduction in total health costs, cost of medication, of medical visits and of complementary medical analysis at termination and 1-year follow-up (all p< .005). Effect size of total cost reduction d= .80. Average 3 sessions.

Shakarami, Mohammad, Reza Davarniya, Kianoush Zahrakar, Rezvaneh Talaeian (2015). Effectiveness of brief solution-focused group couple therapy on improving marital quality in women. Razi Journal of Medical Sciences 22 (131):1-13. 30 women visiting Hamyaran Salamat Ravan (mental health helpers) Institute in Bojnourd city in 2013 randomised to exp (7 x 90 min group sess) / controls no intervention. Significant improvement in scores for exp at post-test and 4 wk follow-up. (Persian)

Shen Hou-mei (2014) Focusing on solving model in the application of psychological nursing in patients with vertigo syndrome. Journal of Anhui Health Vocational & Technical College 5. Randomised: 50 exp solution-focus / 50 controls routine care. Depression and anxiety scores significantly better in sf group clients (P <0.05). (Chinese)

Shih-Hsiu Su, Su Shi (2015) The Effects of Solution-Focused Group Counseling on Junior high school male Students of anger. Randomised; 8 exp: 8 sess SF group counselling and 4 wk follow-up sess; 8 control no input. Immediate decrease in anger and further improvement at follow-up. (Chinese) (http://dspace.lib.ntnu.edu.tw/handle/77345300/49975)

Shirashiani A, Namani, E. (2017) Effectiveness of the Combination of Solution-Focused Therapy and Narrative Therapy in Marital Adjustment among Incompatible Iranian Women. Open Journal of Psychiatry, 7, 79-89. Random selection from all 1500 incompatible women referred in May 2016. 12 exp 8 group sess mixing SF and narrative topics / 12 controls no intervention. The findings demonstrated that this combination of solution-focused therapy and narrative therapy is significantly effective in marital adjustment of incompatible women (P < 0.05). https://doi.org/10.4236/ojpsych.2017.7200 (a.namani@hsu.ac.ir)

Shin S-K (2009) Effects of a Solution-Focused Program on the Reduction of Aggressiveness and the Improvement of Social Readjustment for Korean Youth Probationers. Journal of Social Service Research 35( 3): 274 – 284. Randomised: adolescents on probation: 20 exp 6 weekly group sessions / 20 control; indiv sess as requested. Reduced aggression and increased social adjustment in exp at end of programme. (Korean) (skshin2000@hotmail.com)

Smock SA, Trepper TS, Wetchler JL, McCollum EE, Ray R, Pierce K (2008) Solution-focused group therapy for level 1 substance abusers. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy 34(1):107–120. Randomised: 27 exp: 6 wkly groups / 29 control: 6 wkly Hazelden program groups. 19 exp / 19 control completed; significant improvement in depression and symptom distress; dependence scores unchanged. No follow-up. (Sara.smock@ttu.edu)

Sodani Mansour, Shafiabady Abdollah, Etemadi Ahmad, Delavar Ali (2009) Comparison of individual and conjoint solution-focused therapy for reducing family conflict in couples referred to Ahvaz counsel centers for problem disclosure. Quarterly Educational Psychology 5(14):39-54. Randomised: 33 couples treated of 150 with marital problems. Some had individual therapy in groups, others had conjoint therapy. Pre-post measures and comparison with controls. Equal benefit for both methods; sexual relationship improved more in individuals, finance in conjoint. (Persian)

Spence GB, Grant AM (2007) Professional and peer life coaching and the enhancement of goal striving and well-being: An exploratory study. Journal of Positive Psychology, 2(3): 185–194. Volunteers: randomised to coaching: 21 by professionals, 22 by peers, 20 controls. Peer coaches had 1 day of training. Measures at end of 10 weeks: better attendance and more progress towards goals in professional group. (anthonyg@psych.usyd.edu.au; gordons@psych.usyd.edu.au) 

Sun Yunxia, Wu Lin, Guo Xiangrong (2015) Application effects of solution focused approach on psychological nursing in patients with MRI examination Chinese Journal of Modern Nursing 26. MRI subjects with claustrophobia; random; 64 exp 5 sess sf counseling / 64 TAU. Patients and caregivers report less anxiety / depression / dyspnea 26.5% exp vs 37.5% / sweating 46.8% vs 64.1%: P <0.05. doi: 10.3760 / cma.j.issn.1674-2907.2015.26.005 (Chinese)

Tao Xiaohong, Shi Weidong (2014) Application of Solution-focused Approach Intervention on T2DM Patients with Depression. Journal of Modern Medicine & Health (19). Random; patients with type 2 diabetes and depression; exp 90: TAU + sft / control 90: TAU. 5 metabolic indexes before and after 6 mon: both groups are significantly lower (P<0.05); self-care better except smoking. Exp depression scores (53.23±3.79) significantly lower than controls (59.04±4.48) (P<0.05). Doi:10.3969/j.issn.1009-5519.2014.19.007 (Chinese)

Theeboom T, Beersma B, Van Vianen AEM (2015) The differential effects of solution-focused and problem-focused coaching questions on the affect, attentional control and cognitive flexibility of undergraduate students experiencing study-related stress. Journal of Positive Psychology, Random 31 exp sf questions about preferred future / 30 controls problem-focused questions; higher positive affect, lower negative affect in exp; no effect on attentional control. Repeat 28 exp / 26 controls: same results for affect. More cognitive flexibility in exp; apparently not mediated by positive affect. DOI: 10.1080/17439760.2015.111712661   (t.theeboom@uva.nl)

Thorslund KW (2007) Solution-focused group therapy for patients on long-term sick leave: a comparative outcome study. Journal of Family Psychotherapy 18(3):11-24. Randomised 15 exp / 15 control; 1-5 mon sick. 8 sess; increased return to work (60%(9) vs 13%(2)) and psychological health improved at 3 mon follow-up. (karin.wallgren@losningsfokus.se)

Vahide U, Fatehizadeh M, Ahmadi A, Trust A (2017). Rahhlmdar impact of counseling on sexual satisfaction and performance of women in the family. Science and Research in Applied Psychology, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, 17(3):73-80. Random: women 20-40 years, married at least one year and been to high school. 15 exp group sft 6 sess / 15 controls no intervention. Significant improvement in sexual satisfaction and performance in the family in exp group. (Persian)

Valve P, Lehtinen-Jacks S, Eriksson T, Lehtinen M, Lindfors P, Saha M-T, Rimpelä A, Anglé S. (2013) LINDA – a solution-focused low-intensity intervention aimed at improving health behaviors of young females: a cluster-randomized controlled trial. BMC Public Health 13:1044 doi:10.1186/1471-2458-13-1044 3059 subjects (in HPV vaccine programme); 1537 received also sf lifestyle intervention 3-5 times. 37% exp improved on activity, sleep and diet at 2.5 yr vs 31% controls. Counselling sounds quite directive. (paivi.valve@uta.fi)

Vogelaar L, van’t Spijker A, Vogelaar T, van Busschbach JJ, Visser MS, Kuipers EJ, van der Woude CJ (2011) Solution focused therapy: A promising new tool in the management of fatigue in Crohn’s disease patients: Psychological interventions for the management of fatigue in Crohn’s disease. J Crohn’s and Colitis. doi:10.1016/j.crohns.2011.06.001 

Vogelaar L, van’t Spijker A, Timman R, van Tilburg AJP, Bac D, Vogelaar T, Kuipers EJ, van Busschbach JJV, van der Woude CJ (2013) Fatigue management in patients with IBD: a randomised controlled trial. Gut:doi:10.1136/gutjnl-2013-305191. Randomised: 98 patients; sft or CAU for 3 mon. 39% improved on fatigue and QoL vs 18% but both groups similar at 9 mon follow-up. (l.vogelaar@erasmusmc.nl)

Wake M, Baur LA, Gerner B, Gibbons K, Gold L, Gunn J, Levickis P, McCallum Z, Naughton G, Sanci L, Ukoumunne OC (2009) Outcomes and costs of primary care surveillance and intervention for overweight or obese children: the LEAP 2 randomised controlled trial. British Medical Journal 339: 1132. Overweight children in primary care: randomised: 139 offered 4 sess sf health education; 112 controls. Mean attendance 2.7 sess. No significant change or difference in BMI, activity or nutrition at 12 mon follow-up. (melissa.wake@rch.org.au)

Wang Rui, Li Xiaomin, Du Yufeng, Feng Jindong (2016) The effect of Solution Focused Nursing on the self-efficacy of burned patients. International Journal of Nursing 35(15). Random: 28 exp sf nursing care / 28 controls routine care. At post-test exp had higher self-efficacy scores (P<0.01) and controls had lower scores (P<0.01). (Chinese) 
doi：10.3760/cma.j.issn.1673-4351.2016.15.008 

Wang Shan, Xu Jin-zhi, Zhang Jin-feng (2015) Effects of solution-focused approach in the rehabilitation training of patients with lung cancer. Chinese Journal of General Practice 13(10). Random: 40 exp rehab exercises; sft / 40 controls rehab exercises. Quality of life and health status significantly better (P <0.05) in exp at 3 mon. (Chinese)
Wang Ze-min, Long Sen, Zhou Jing, Wang Yu-wen, Chen Zhi-yu (2014) Study on the effect of the Medication Guide for Patients with Schizophrenia. Hospital Management Forum 8. 100 patients with schizophrenia; randomised: 50 exp / 50 controls. Both received medication guidance; exp also sf approach. Compliance, curative effect and drug treatment-related knowledge of exp group significantly higher (P<0.05). (Chinese)

Wichowicz HM, Puchalska L, Rybak-Korneluk AM, Gąsecki D, Wiśniewska A (2017). Application of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) in individuals after stroke. Brain Injury, 1-6. 62 patients, aged 54.0 ± 9.6 years; random: 10 sf sess / controls no therapy. Depression and anxiety drops in the SFBT group (from 5.0 to 2.0 and 8.0 to 4.0 respectively; P< .001); control group remains unchanged. Reduction of destructive attitudes, increase in constructive attitudes and increased self-efficacy (from 79.0 to 96.0) was observed after therapy but not in controls group. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02699052.2017.1341997

Wilmshurst LA (2002) Treatment programs for youth with emotional and behavioural disorders: an outcome study of two alternate approaches. Mental Health Services Research 4:85-96. Randomised controlled study: 12 wk; 27 clients 5 day/wk residential, sft, family contact 26 hr; 38 non-resident programme, cbt, family contact 48 hr. I yr follow-up: Behaviour improved in both groups; ADHD behaviours better in 63% of cbt, 22% of sft; group scores better for anxiety, depression with cbt. Author suggests residential care is detrimental.

Wiyono, B. D. (2015). Keefektifan solution-focused brief group counseling untuk meningkatkan motivasi berprestasi siswa sekolah menengah kejuruan. (Effectiveness-focused brief solution group counseling for improving student achievement motivation vocational high school) Jurnal Konseling Indonesia, 1(1). 5 exp 4 sess / 5 controls no input. Significantly enhanced achievement motivation. (Indonesian)

Wu Chen-Hui, Lo Ming Hua (2015) The effects of the solution-focused group counseling for relational aggression bullied students on self-esteem and social skills. National Taichung University of Education Institutional RepositoryItem 987654321/455. Bulllied students; random 5 exp sf groups 10 sess / 5 controls no input. Significant improvement in social skills and work; no change in self-esteem. http://ntcuir.ntcu.edu.tw/handle/987654321/455 (Chinese)

Wu Li-ying, Xie Mei-lian, Liu Pei-zhen (2015) Effect of Solution Focused Approach Model On Negative Emotions and Quality of Life of Patients with Radical Hysterectomy. Medical Innovation of China 31 doi：10.3969/j.issn.1674-4985.2015.31.026   Cervical cancer post-op: random: 45 exp sf health education / 41 controls TAU.  After 15 days: anxiety, depression, physical function, nursing satisfaction all significantly improved ((P <0.05). No improvement in social function. (Chinese)

Wu Tong, Yue Lili (2016) Paroxetine combined with focus to address the short-term treatment of social anxiety in patients with clinical efficacy. Practical Journal of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Diseases 24(B04): 69-69. Social anxiety disorder: random; 13 exp sf + paroxetine / 13 controls psychological support + paroxetine. Significant improvement (P>0.05) over 1 yr follow-up. (Chinese)

Yang Jun-En, Qiao Ai-Xin, Han Jing, Zhang Hong-Xin, Liu Xiao-Ping (2013) Observation on the effect of solution focused theory on improving sleep quality of ACS patients with clinical pathway. Chinese Journal of Practical Nursing 29(29) doi：10.3760/cma.j.issn.1672-7088.2013.29.014  Random allocation: exp 49 /  control 51. Sleep quality assessed with the Athens Insomnia Scale (ASI); sf intervention. At 4 wks 7/8 items significantly improved (not daytime expressed emotion). (Chinese)

Yang JW, Kim HM (2015). The Effects of Solution-focused Group Art Therapy on School Life Adjustment of the Maladjusted Adolescents. The Journal of the Korea Contents Association, 15(5), 661-673. DOI :10.5392/JKCA.2015.15.05.661. Random: 10 exp 12 sess sf art groups / 10 controls no treatment. Significant improvement in school life adaptation competency for exp.  (Korean) (yjwoee@hanmail.net)

Yung Million, Wang Zhihong, Hu Yarong, Yi Jun (2016) Solution-focused clinical research sertraline treatment of depression after stroke therapy combined with short-term homes. Chinese Journal of Rehabilitation, (4), 249-251. Random; 38 exp SFBT + sertraline / 40 controls sertraline and TAU. 8 wk follow-up mood / quality of life / stroke symptoms improved (P<0.01) in both groups;significantly more (P<0.05) in exp. (lyyy_wzh@153.com) doi:10.3870/zgkf.2016.04.003 (Chinese) 

Zahedi-Kasrineh K, Fatehizade M, Bahrami F, Jazayeri RS. (2016) The Effectiveness of Solution-Focused Parental Skills on Behavioral Problems of Preschool Children. J Res Behav Sci 2016; 14(3): 348-55. Random; 16 couples exp 6 sess sf training / 16 couples no intervention. Post-test exp significant improvement in behavioral problems, anxiety, depression, somatization, social problems, thought problems, attention problems, rule-breaking behaviors, aggressive behaviors, and other problems.

Zhai Y, Zhu Y (2016). Study of effect on solution-focused approach in improving the negative emotion of surgical patients in department of vascular surgery. Pak. J. Pharm. Sci, 29(2), 719-722. Random: 60 exp sf groups / 60 controls TAU. Significant (P <0.05) on all measures for exp at 2 wk follow-up. (yanyanzhuwf@sina.com) (English)

Zhang Fang, Lu Xueqin, Zhang Jizhou (2016) Application of Solution-focused Approach in Health Education for Patients with Upper Gastroin-testinal Bleeding. People’s Liberation Army Nursing 33(15). Random: 35 exp sf health education / 35 controls routine health education. Anxiety and depression less; self-mastery significantly better (all P> 0.05). (Chinese) doi：10.3969/j.issn.1008-9993.2016.15.019

Zhang Fang, Zhang Chunling, Yang Linlin, Zhang Hong (2017) Effect of solution focused approach on negative emotion and stress response in patients with uterine fibroids receiving MRI examination. Biomedical Research 2017; Special Issue: Patients with uterine fibroids: random: 42 exp health education and SF / 42 controls health education. Compliance, satisfaction increased (P<0.05); BP, heart rate, anxiety and depression scores reduced (P<0.05). (Chinese)

Zhang Hang, Jin Ruifen, Wu Chunming, Cao Jialin (2014) Application of solution-focused approach in the health education management in patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. Chinese Journal of Modern Nursing 12. Randomised: 30 exp: sf health education / 30 controls: TAU. Significant differences (P<0.05): Knowledge: exp 90% / control 33.3%; satisfaction 93.3% / 83.3%; quality of life higher in exp (238.31 ±24.68) / 201.53 ± 21.59; compliance 86.6% / 66.7%. . Doi:10.3760/cma.j.issn.1674-2907.2014.12.009 (Chinese)

Zhang H-Y, Wu W-E, Wen W-J, Zheng Y-M (2010) Application of solution focused approach in schizophrenia patients of convalescent period. Medical Journal of Chinese People’s Health 18: 2410-2412. 120 schizophrenia patients; randomised; observation group 31 male, 27 female; 5-step sf health education approach; controls 34 male, 22 female; routine health education. Pre and post evaluation by medical reply and social support. Significantly more social support and coping with illness in observation group (p>0.05). (Chinese)

Zhang Lingling, Weisu Xia, Gao Yongping (2016) Focus solving model application results in lung cancer patients before surgery: Psychological Intervention. Chinese Journal of Modern Nursing    22 (1). Random: 46 exp sf / 46 controls TAU on day before surgery. Anxiety / depression scores similar before surgery; day after SDS scores were ( 45. 85 ± 7. 49), (49. 03 ± 7. 46) points, respectively, lower than the control group (50. 62 ± 8. 01), (54. 36 ± 6. 72) minutes; significance P <0 05. doi:10.3760 / cma.j.issn.1674-2907.2016.01.019

Zhang Xi-xia, Zhang Lan-feng, Liu Min-jie (2013) Effect of solution-focused approach combined with auricular acupressure on relieving the anxiety and pain of patients with postmenopausal cervical cancer during afterloading brachytherapy. Chinese Journal of Modern Nursing 34. 
Random, 60 exp: sf approach nursing and auricular acupressure; 60 controls conventional nursing. Self-rating anxiety less p<0.05; pain less p<0.005, satisfaction greater p<0.05 in exp. Doi: 10.3760/cma.j.issn.1674-2907.2013.34.014  (Chinese)

Zhang Ze Lun (2016) The effect of Solution-Focused Brief Coaching Intervention on the self-efficacy and solution-focused thinking of teachers (Thesis). Study 1: random: 106 exp sf coaching / 101 controls: problem-solving explored the different effects of two types coaching question. Exp more effective self-efficacy (P = 0.006);degree of achievement of objectives (P = 0.030);nreduce negative emotions (P = 0.046). Study 2: random; 20 exp 2 sf sess / 20 controls general interviews. Significant improvement in general self-efficacy (P<0.001); sf thinking (P<0.001). (Chinese) http://ir.psych.ac.cn/handle/311026/19862 

Zhao Mingming, Ren Lei, Jiang Wei Lian, Li Ning, Yan Leilei, Hao Lina  (2015) Focus solving model for young breast cancer patients after effects of anxiety and depression. Modern Preventive Medicine 03. 150 young breast cancer patients; randomised; 75 exp sf model; 75 controls general health education. Anxiety Rating Scale (SAS), Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS); significant difference in exp (P<0.05) but continued negative emotions needing support. (Chinese)

Zheng Li-wei, Li Xin-ming, Wang Hui-jun (2013) Application and effect of solution focused approach on patients with GDM during pregnancy follow-up. Chinese Journal of Modern Nursing 19(14). 180 patients with GDM who chose hospital delivery; 90 exp / 90 control. There was no statistically significant difference of caesarean section rate between two groups (x2 =1.283 2,P ＞ 0.05). The incidence rate of perinatal complication were all  significantly lower than controls. doi：10.3760/cma.j.issn.1674-2907.2013.14.009  (Chinese)

Zhou Li-li, Ji Tian-rong, Liu Feng, Bu Zhi-hua, Liu Li, Yang Xiao-yun (2013) Effect of nursing intervention based on solution-focused approach on self-management ability of patients with maintenance hemodialysis. Chinese Journal of Modern Nursing 34. Randomised: 60 exp (SF nursing) / 60 controls (routine nursing). 6 mon follow-up: knowledge of disease and self-management significantly improved in exp group. Doi:10.3760/cma.j.issn.1674-2907.2013.34.004 (Chinese)

Zhou Yuzhen, Zhang Xiaoyan (2016) Application of solution focused approach in improvement of hope level in epileptic patients. Chinese Journal of Practical Nursing 26. Random: 42 exp sf nursing care / 41 controls usual care. Significant reduction in anxiety and depression scores in exp at post-test (P <0.01). doi:10.3760/cma.j.issn.1672-7088.2016.26.006  (Chinese)

COMPARISON STUDIES (100)

Agbakwuru C, Kennedy G (2017). Effects of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy on Preferred Choice of Tertiary Education among Senior Secondary School Students in Rivers State, Nigeria. International Journal of Innovative Social & Science Education Research 5(1):39-47. 119 students with limited motivation for tertiary education were selected; 57 exp from 2 schools received SFBT (no details) / 62 from 2 schools no treatment. Significant difference between groups at post-test. Recommended that SFBT should be included in counsellor education training programmes. (chikweagba@yahoo.com)

Aliftitah S (2016). Pengaruh solution focused brief counselling (sfbc) dalam mencegah burnout syndrome pada mahasiswa keperawatan semester akhir (effect solution brief counselling (sfbc) prevent burnout syndrome in nursing students at the end of the semester). Wiraraja Medika 6(2). Random: nursing students: 20 exp sft groups / 20 controls no intervention. Significant reduction (P<0.05) in stress scores for exp at post-test. (Indonesian)

Ali Lutfi Abdullah Mo’tamedi (2016). Examine the effects of short-circuit-term solution to increasing resilience in at-risk adolescent boys in a military town. Military Psychology, 7 (25), 37-49. 15 exp 6 sf sess (twice wkly) / 15 controls no intervention. Significant increase in resilience scores in exp group. (Persian)

Amiri H, Sharme MS, Zarchi AK, Bahari F, Binesh A (2013) Effectiveness of Solution-Focused Communication Training (SFCT) in Nurses’ Communication Skills.  Iranian Journal of Military Medicine 14 (4): 279- 286. 71 nurses from medical-surgical departments of Tehran hospital. 8 hour workshop; pre-test; post-test two months after. 3 questionnaires completed (participant, head nurse, colleagues). Mean difference statistically significant [P= 0/001]; also between mean scores of 4 subscales of nurses’ communication skills. (amirizh@yahoo.com)

Anderson L, Vostanis P, O’Reilly M (2005) 3 yr follow-up of a family support service cohort of children with behavioural problems and their parents. Child: Care, Health and Development 31(4):469-477. One of three groups had sft. Improvement not sustained or new problems arose by 3 yrs for all groups.

Antle BF, Barbee AP, Christensen DN, Martin MH (2008) Solution-based casework in child welfare: preliminary evaluation research.  Journal of Public Health Child Welfare 2(2): 197- 227. Study 1: fully trained workers, 27 cases; minimal trained, 21 cases. Better compliance, less legal action, fewer removals in trained group.  Study 2: 51 cases from fully trained, 49 minimal. Better compliance and goal achievement in both urban and rural areas. 

Antle BF, Barbee AP, Christensen DN, Sullivan DJ (2009) The prevention of child maltreatment recidivism through the Solution-Based Casework model of child welfare practice. Children and Youth Services Review 31 (12): 1346-1351. 6 mon follow-up: 39 SBC workers, 339 cases; 38 TAU workers, 421 cases. Significantly less recidivism for SBC: 350.69 cases vs 538.00.

Antle BF, Christensen DN, van Zyl MA, Barbee AP (2012) The impact of the Solution Based Casework Practice Model on federal outcomes in public child welfare. Child Abuse and Neglect. 4559 child welfare cases were reviewed through a CQI case review process. High levels of fidelity to the model demonstrated significantly better outcomes in the areas of child safety, permanency and well-being and exceeded federal standards. Components of Solution-Based Casework were significant predictors of these federal outcomes and accounted for variance in these outcomes better than any other casework process factors. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2011.10.009

Arslan N, Ahmet AKIN (2016). Çözüm Odaklı Kısa Süreli Grupla Psikolojik Danışmanın Lise Öğrencilerinin Akran Zorbalığına Etkisi (Solution Focused Brief Counseling Group Peer Bullying Impact of High School Students). Sakarya University Journal of Education 6(1):72-84. 12 exp (6 male): 6 sess SFGT / 12 controls (6 male) no treatment. 2 mon follow-up: significant reduction in bullying.

Ateş B (2016). The Effect of Solution-focused Brief Group Counseling upon the Perceived Social Competences of Teenagers. Journal of Education and Training Studies, 4(7):28-36. Non-random: selected for low social competence scores. 8 exp sf 6 sess / 8 non-effective treatment / 8 controls no treatment. Significant improvement in exp maintained at 3 mon follow-up; other groups no change. (Turkish) (Bunyaminates81@gmail.com)

Azizi I, Ghasemi (2017). Comparison the Effectiveness of Solution-Focused Therapy, Cognitive-Behavior Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Depression and Quality of Life in Divorced Women. Culture Counseling and Psychotherapy 8 (29): 207-236. 48 divorced women with depression; 9 sess groups; CBT, ACT, sft: 12 exp in each group; 12 controls no treatment. Significant improvement in exp post-test (P<0.001); CBT the most effective. (Persian)

Bao Y, Zhu F (2017). Intervention experiment research on college students’ interpersonal relationship by solution-focused group counseling. International Conference on Service Systems and Service Management (ICSSSM) p 1-4. Self-select students: comprehensive diagnosis scale of interpersonal relationship; 18 exp sf group counseling / 18 no intervention. Post-test significant improvement in exp (P<0.01) on scale; no change in controls.  

Barcons C, Cunillera O, Miquel V, Ardèvol I, Beyebach M (2016). Effectiveness of Brief Systemic Therapy versus Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in routine clinical practice. Psicothema, 28(3), 298-303. 419 referred to Adult Ambulatory Mental Health Service: 212 were allocated to Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT); 207 to Brief Systemic Therapy (BST). Not random: catchment based. Psychiatric diagnoses equivalent. Follow-up assessments of patients’ status took place between one and three years later; avg 1 yr. 8% still in treatment, 52% therapeutically discharged, 38% dropped out, 2% had been referred to other services. Both therapy models were found to be equivalent in their percentage of therapeutic discharges, drop-outs, relapses and in the use of other mental health services during the follow-up period. Although both treatments were cost-efficient, BST was not briefer than CBT. (cbarcons@hospitalbenitomenni.org) (Spanish)  doi:10.7334/psicothema2015.309 

Barlow A, Banks AP (2014) Using emotional intelligence in coaching high-performance athletes: a randomised controlled trial. Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice DOI:10.1080/17521882.2014.939679 High-performance netball players: 10 exp; 10 controls; Bar-On EQ-i emotional intelligence profiles. Coaching significantly improved self-efficacy and anxiety which link directly to EQ-I scales but not team identification which does not link directly; no change in the control group. So sf coaching is effective if there is direct link between a particular component of emotional intelligence and a particular outcome. (a.banks@surrey.ac.uk)

Bostandzhiev Vl, Bozhkova E (2011) A comparative study in a Mental Health Day Center 2002- 2005 (Macdonald AJ, Solution Focused Therapy: Theory, Research and Practice. Sage Publications: London 2011). 96 subjects : 41 exp / 55 controls. Group 1 (n=14; anxiety disorders, depression): solution-focused therapy without drug therapy. Groups 2, 3 and 4 included schizophrenia, bipolar disorders and anxiety disorders. Group 2 (n=8): medication without psychotherapy; Group 3 (n=27): solution-focused therapy and medication; Group 4 (n=47): syncretic group therapy (discussion of problems; avg 30 sess) and medication. 31 patients (32.3%) diagnosed as schizophrenia. Avg 2.6 sess; range 1-7. Group 1: 78.5% improved; Group 2: 25%; Group 3: 63%; Group 4: 19%. 15% of Group 4 showed deterioration but none of the others. Thus 65.8% improved when solution-focused therapy was included vs 20% without. Improvement measured by OQ45,GAF and client’s scaling. Rapid change in daily functioning for all diagnostic categories, ranging from coping with chores and family to full recovery. (See also Bozhkova E (2011) Psychology – Theory and Practice 3: 85-95 (Bulgarian; abstract in English). (mail@bozhkova.info)

Candelaria Martínez M, García Cedillo I, Estrada Aranda BD (2016) Adherence to nutritional therapy: Intervention based on motivational interviewing and brief solution-focused therapy/Adherencia al tratamiento nutricional: intervención basada en entrevista motivacional y terapia breve centrada en soluciones. Revista Mexicana de Trastornos Alimentarios/Mexican Journal of Eating Disorders, 7(1), 32-39. 16 overweight or obese women: 10 exp 6 monthly sess motivational interviewing/sft / 6 controls. Increased adherence to diet and exercise in exp (P<0.04). (mcandelariamtz@gmail.com) (Mex. Spanish) http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rmta.2016.02.002 2007-1523

Carrera M, Cabero A, González S, Rodríguez N, García C, Hernández L, Manjón J (2015), Solution-focused group therapy for common mental health problems: Outcome assessment in routine clinical practice. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice. doi: 10.1111/papt.12085 132 mental health users 7 sess sf group therapy / 132 matched controls: usual care. Mean post-SFGT levels significantly lower than pre-SFGT levels on each self-report measure.  At 24 mon SFGT showed a significantly higher percentage of discharges and fewer clients returning for help than with UC.

Cepukiene V, Pakrosnis R (2011) The outcome of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy among foster care adolescents: The changes of behavior and perceived somatic and cognitive difficulties. Children and Youth Services Review 33(6):791–797. 7 foster care homes in Lithuania. Treatment (mean age 14.6) and control groups similar; 46 adolescents each. Maximum of 5 sessions. Evaluation at 6 weeks: Standardized Interview for the Evaluation of Adolescents’ Problems. 31% of treatment group significant behavior change; 29% change in somatic and cognitive difficulties. (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2010.11.027. (v.cepukiene@smf.vdu.lt; r.pakrosnis@smf.vdu.lt)

Chung SA, Yang S (2004) The effects of solution-focused group counseling program for the families with schizophrenic patients. Taehan Kanho Hakhoe Chi (Journal of the Korean Academy of Nursing) 34:1155-63. 48 schizophrenic patients and 56 families; 24 patients and 28 families each in exp and control gps. 8 group sess for exp; significant reduction in family burden and expressed emotion vs controls. (Korean)

Connell MA (2014) Modifying Academic Performance Using Online Grade Book Review During Solution-Focused Brief Therapy. Walden University Dissertation 3631272. Three groups of at-risk students: Group 1 SFBT only (18); Group 2 (20) SFBT and Online Grade Book Review (JumpRope); Group 3 (22) JumpRope alone. Results suggested statistical significance of including gradebook review within SFBT resulted in improved academic performance. 

Corcoran JA (2006) A comparison group study of solution-focused therapy versus “treatment-as-usual” for behavior problems in children. Journal of Social Service Research 33:69-81. 239 children; 83 sft vs 156 ‘treatment as usual’. Better treatment engagement with sft but no outcome differences. (jcorcoran@vcu.edu)

Dai, Hsiao-yun (2015) Study of reducing central pain syndrome for patients with spinal cord injury by using solution-focused brief therapy and multiple techniques. National Taipei University Nursing and Health Sciences Institutional Repository Item 987654321/3905. 7 exp: SFT steps used; pain scores / 7 controls TAU. Exp: positive relationship, praise and homework not found useful. Pain scores significantly reduced in exp. http://140.131.94.7/handle/987654321/3905 (Chinese)

Dorche KP, Kimiaei S A, Ghahramanzadeh M (2017). Evaluating the Effect of Solution-Focused Group Counseling on Improving Quality of Marital Relationships in Childless Couples. International Journal of Psychological Studies 9(1), 81. 7 couples exp: group wkly sf sess / 7 control couples no therapy. Significant relationship improvement in exp at post-test. (kimiaee@um.ac.ir) DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ijps.v9n1p81

Eakes G, Walsh S, Markowski M, Cain H, Swanson M (1997) Family-centred brief solution-focused therapy with chronic schizophrenia: a pilot study. Journal of Family Therapy 19:145-158. Experimental and control groups: 5 clients and families each. Reflecting team also used. Exp: Family Environment Scale showed significant increase in expressiveness, active-recreational orientation and decrease in incongruence. Controls: moral-religious emphasis increased.

Eun Young Choi (2014) The impact solution-focused group art therapy on the social problem-solving skills of young people. Art Therapy Research 21.3 (2014): 479-498.  www.newnonmun.com/article=63971 Adolescents with poor social competence: 11 exp: 12 sess sf group art therapy; 11 controls no intervention. Social competence improved in exp group at end of study. (Korean)

Forrester D, Copello A, Waissbein C, Pokhrel S (2008) Evaluation of an intensive family preservation service for families affected by parental substance misuse. Child Abuse Review 17(6): 410 – 426. Intensive Family Preservation Service: motivational interviewing / sft for 279 children; TAU for 89. Evaluation 3.5 yrs later: 40% of each group been in care but less time and cost saving for intervention group. (Donald.Forrester@beds.ac.uk)

Franklin C, Moore K, Hopson L (2008) Effectiveness of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy in a School Setting. Children and Schools 30(1):15-26. 30 exp (School A); 5-7 groups; 29 control (School B); 1 mon follow-up (43). Teachers: externalised and internalised behaviours significantly improved, students externalised behaviours significantly improved.

Franklin C, Streeter CL, Kim JS, Tripodi SJ (2007) The Effectiveness of a Solution-Focused, Public Alternative School for Dropout Prevention and Retrieval. Children and Schools 29(3):133-144. 46 exp / 39 comparison. Significantly more credits earned and more credits per time spent for exp with lower attendance rates.  81% graduation rate for exp / 90% for comparison after correcting for difference in policies. (cfranklin@mail.utexas.edu)

Gostautas A, Cepukiene V, Pakrosnis R, Fleming JS (2005) The outcome of solution-focused brief therapy for adolescents in foster care and health institutions. Baltic Journal of Psychology 6:5-14.  81 exp (44 foster / 37 health care) / 52 comparison; test battery 1-4 wk after 2-5 sess (avg 3.42). Grouped data: significant difference all measures for exp group; therapists rated 82% much improved. Scaling in keeping with standard instruments. (a.gostautas@smf.vdu.lt)

Grant AM, Green LS, Rynsaardt J (2010) Developmental Coaching for High School Teachers: Executive Coaching Goes to School. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research 62:151-168. 23 exp / 21 controls; 10 week programme. Improved goal attainment, resilience and wellbeing at end of programme. (anthonyg@psych.usyd.edu.au)

Indriūnienė V (2017) Effectiveness of Solution-Focused Brief Counselling in Dealing with Problems with Physical Education among Senior Students. Croatian Journal of Education: Hrvatski časopis za odgoj i obrazovanje, 19(2), 399-417.   Self-selected: 92 exp sf counselling / 100 controls no therapy.   66.3% of participants reported medium or major progress in dealing with a severe problem related to physical activity (P = .001). Physical education teachers observed positive changes in the students’ behaviour during classes (Communication problems P< .001; Insufficient involvement in PE classes:P< .001).  DOI: 10.15516/cje.v19i2.2053 (Croatian)

Jankauskaitė K (2016) Į sprendimus sutelktos internetinės savipagalbos programos galimybės skatinti moterų sveiką gyvenseną. (Potential Benefits of the Unguided Internet-based Solution-focused Self-help Program for Promoting Women Healthy Lifestyle) (Doctoral dissertation, Vytautas Magnus University). Self-selected: 25 completed online sft programme / 34 routine health advice. Physical activity, alcohol and other drugs abstinence and coping with stress improved in exp. (Lithuanian)

Javad Espadalli, Seyed Ali Kimayee, Seyyed Mohammad Mehdi Farhadi (2017). The effectiveness of group therapy in interacting analysis on the reduction of aggression of couples with addicted spouse. Research in Clinical Psychology and Consultation, 6 (2), 5-15. 20 exp 8 sess sf groups / 20 controls no therapy. Aggression significantly reduced in exp at post-test. DOI: 10.22067 / ijap.v6i2.48868 (Persian)

Jiao Yinghua (2014) Application of solution focused approach in psychological intervention by oncology nurses. Chinese Community Doctors  35. Oncology nurses: 25 exp sf training / 25 controls usual training. Scores significantly reduced in intervention group. In observation group, 13 cases were markedly effective; 10 cases effective; efficiency 92%. In the control group, 8 cases were markedly effective and 10 cases effective; efficiency 72% (difference P<0.05). 
doi: 10.3969 / j.issn.1007-614x.2014.35.93 (Chinese)

Kang Jie, Wang Yun, Sun Hong (2014) Effect of solution focused approach on negative emotion and cancer-related fatigue for patients with cancer chemotherapy.  China Medical Herald 35. 39 exp sf nursing / 39 routine nursing. Negative emotions less in exp (P<0.05); increase in fatigue for controls. (Chinese)

Koob JJ, Love SM (2010) The implementation of solution-focused therapy to increase foster care placement stability. Children and Youth Services Review 32(10):1346-1350. 31 adolescents with multiple placements: CBT in year 1, sft in year 2. Number of disruptions in sft year decreased from mean 6.29 (SD 3.6) to mean 1.45 (SD 0.68), p <.001.

Kvarme LG, Helseth S, Sørum R, Luth-Hansen V, Haugland S, Natvig GK (2010) The effect of a solution-focused approach to improve self-efficacy in socially withdrawn school children: A non-randomized controlled trial. International Journal of Nursing Studies, doi:10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2010.05.001  Exp girls 55 / boys 36; controls girls 44 / boys 20. SF group programme: increase in self-efficacy on standard measures at post-test for girls and at 3 mon follow-up for boys and girls (slight improvement for controls also at 3 mon). (lisbeth.kvarme@diakonova.no)

LaFountain RM, Garner NE (1996) Solution-focused counselling groups: the results are in. Journal for Specialists in Group Work 21:128-143. Exp: 27 sft counsellors, 176 students; control 30 non-sft counsellors, 135 students. Exp better on 3 of 8 measures including 81% goal achievement (controls no report).  Less depersonalisation and more personal accomplishment in sft counsellers at 1 yr.

Lambert MJ, Okiishi JC, Finch AE, Johnson LD (1998) Outcome assessment: From conceptualization to implementation. Professional Psychology: Research & Practice 29:63-70. 22 cases from Johnson & Shaha (1996) compared with 45 at university public mental health center. Both methods achieved 46% recovered by objective criteria (OQ-45) (‘Improved’ cases not reported); sft by 3rd sess, center by 26th.

Lamprecht H, Laydon C, McQuillan C, Wiseman S, Williams L, Gash A, Reilly J (2007) Single-session solution-focused brief therapy and self-harm: a pilot study. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing 14:601-2. 40 first time selfharmers; 1 sess. 2 rpt (6.25%) in 1 yr follow-up vs 40/302 (13.2%) untreated. (Updates Wiseman S (2003) Brief intervention: reducing the repetition of deliberate self-harm. Nursing Times 99:34-36) (j.g.reilly@durham.ac.uk)

Lee, Hyun-Ju, Eom Myeongyong (2014) Depressed women target low-income seniors living alone, the positive psychological development and effective solution – focused integrated community programs. Korea Social Welfare, 66(3):101-131. Quasi-experimental nonequivalent comparison group design; exp group program based on positive psychology and sf 10 sess; controls reminiscence group program 10 sess; no intervention group TAU. Increased subjective wellbeing and less depression in exp only at 11 wk follow-up. (Korean) (www.newnonmun.com/article=66209)

Liang CY (2010) The Psychological-Guidance Effects of Solution-Focused Group Counseling on Elementary Students with Learning Disabilities. Guidance and Counseling Institute p182. Exp 8: 4 sf interviews; control 8: no interviews. Significant increase in self-empowerment and decrease in learning disturbances at follow-up (when?). (Chinese)

Li Jing, Yang Fangyu, Dian Huijuan (2016) A study on the influence of the solution focused approach on the job burnout of nursing interns. Journal of Modern Nursing 22(22). Nursing interns: 42 exp SF model taught / 40 controls usual teaching. Less burnout and better technical skills in exp post-test (P <0.05). (Chinese) doi：10.3760/cma.j.issn.1674-2907.2016.22.035

Littrell JM, Malia JA, Vanderwood M (1995) Single-session brief counseling in a high school. Journal of Counseling and Development 73:451-458. 61 students; 19 problem focus and task, 20 problem focus only, 22 solution focus and task. 69% better at 6 wk follow-up in all groups but shorter sessions in sft. (jlittrel@iastate.edu)

Martínez MC, Cedillo IG, Aranda BDE (2016). Adherence to nutritional therapy: Intervention based on motivational interviewing and brief solution-focused therapy. Revista Mexicana de Trastornos Alimentarios. 10 exp motivational interviewing + sft + TAU/6 TAU. Better adherence to nutritional protocol by exp group. (mcandelariamtz@gmail.com) doi:10.1016/j.rmta.2016.02.002

McAllister M, Zimmer-Gembeck M, Moyle W, Billett S (2008) Working effectively with clients who self-injure using a solution-focused approach. International Emergency Nursing, 16(4): 272-279. Nurses in two Australian emergency departments completed questionnaires before and after participating in SFN training focused on working with complex clients who self-harm. A comparison group of nurses also completed questionnaires. Results indicated some benefits of the intervention; there were improvements in participants’ perception that nursing is strengths oriented and in nurses’ satisfaction with their skills. There were no significant improvement in nurses’ reports of their professional self-concept.

Mei-Kuei Huang, For-Wey Lung, Wei-Tsung Kao, Yao-Hua Lu (2016) The Effects on Combining Psycho-social-educational Program with Methadone Maintenance Therapy. Daren University 48: 33 – 51. 70 subjects; 5 groups of 14 members: methadone maintenance therapy only (M), M with health education information condition (ME), ME with solution-focused brief group therapy condition (MESFBGT), ME with SFB individual therapy condition (MESFBIT), and ME with SFB family therapy condition (MESFBFT). Significant differences at 6 mon in MESFBIT, MESFBGT, MESFBFT. It was also found that the family function in MESFBFT improved significantly after treatment. (Chinese) http://www.airitilibrary.com/Publication/Index/P20101109004-201603-201606020008-2016060200

Mirzavand A, Riahi M, Mirzavand A, Malekitabar M (2016). Effectiveness of Solution-Focused Therapy on Married Couples’ Burnout. Iran J Psychiatry Behav Sci. (In Press):e4983.  All couples referred to Shahryar city court for divorce in May 2014: 10 exp 8 sf sess / 10 controls no intervention.  Reduced burnout scores at post-test. doi: 10.17795/ijpbs-4983. (Persian)

Mintoft B, Bellringer ME, Orme C (2005) Improved client outcome services project: an intervention with clients of problem gambling treatment. ECOMMUNITY: International journal of mental health and addiction 3:30-40. 23 unimproved clients compared with 62 who refused further treatment and with national statistics. First session motivational interviewing and cbt, then up to 16 wks sft and self-completion booklet about goals and exceptions. 11 completed programme; improvement on all measures; numbers too small for statistics. No data on number of sessions or partial completers. (br.mintoft@auckland.ac.nz)

Najafi A, Rahnama F, Sabor F P (2016) Effectiveness of Solution Focused Therapy on Identity of High School Students. Electronic J Biol 12(4).  Secondary school students living in Saleh Abad in 2015; convenience sampling: exp 20 6×60 min sf group sess / control 20. Identity Styles Inventory (1992). Improvement in identity scores in exp, especially normative scores. (Persian) (rahnamarahnama.500@yahoo.com)

Newsome WS (2004) Solution-Focused Brief Therapy Groupwork With At-Risk Junior High School Students: Enhancing the Bottom Line. Research on Social Work Practice 14(5):336–43. 26 exp / 26 controls; poor grades and attendance. Group programme for exp only; grades improved 1.58 pretest / 1.69 posttest. Controls 1.66 pretest / 1.48 posttest; significant difference. No change in attendance which had already improved. (Quoted as ‘promising treatment’ by Office of Juvenile Justice: http://www.ojjdp.gov/mpg)

Nowicka P, Haglund P, Pietrobelli A, Lissau I, Flodmark C-E (2008) Family Weight School treatment: 1-year results in obese adolescents.  International Journal of Pediatric Obesity 3(3): 141-147.  65 exp: Family Weight School group; 23 no-treatment controls. 49 exp / 17 controls at 1 yr: significant weight loss in moderate obesity.

Pakrosnis R, Cepukiene V (2011) Outcomes of solution-focused brief therapy for adolescents in foster care and health care settings. 129 adolescents; 112 completed therapy (19% dropout); 91 controls. Maximum 5 sess; avg 3.11. Significant improvement at end of therapy for 77% foster care; 67% mental health care; 52% rehabilitation group. In Franklin C, Trepper T, Gingerich WJ, McCollum E. (eds) Solution-focused Brief Therapy: A Handbook of Evidence-Based Practice. Oxford University Press: New York 2011. (CFranklin@mail.utexas.edu; trepper@calumet.purdue.edu)

Pakrosnis, R, Cepukiene V. (2014) Solution-focused self-help for improving university students’ well-being. Innovations in Education and Teaching International: ahead-of-print 1-11. 173 undergraduate Lithuanian psychology students: solution-focused self-reflection 60; cognitive restructuring self-reflection 66; free observation 47. Subjective measures of well-being twice within a 12-day period. Both intervention groups did better on all applied measures. SFSR superior to CRSR in evaluation of usefulness and acceptability of the intervention. 
DOI: 10.1080/14703297.2014.930352 (rytpak@yahoo.com)

Panayotov P, Anichkina A, Strahilov B (2011) Solution-focused brief therapy and long-term medical treatment compliance / adherence with patients suffering from schizophrenia: a pilot naturalistic clinical observation. 51 pts; treatment as usual and sft. Own controls: compliance 244 days; increase to 827 days after therapy completed. 76% still taking meds at time of study. (plamenpan@mail.bg) In Franklin C, Trepper T, Gingerich WJ, McCollum E. (eds) Solution-focused Brief Therapy: A Handbook of Evidence-Based Practice. Oxford University Press: New York 2011.

Perkins R (2006) The effectiveness of one session of therapy using a single-session therapy approach for children and adolescents with mental health problems. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice 79:215-227. 78 exp single sess / 88 no treatment; follow-up 4 wks. Severity reduced 74.3% vs 42.5%; frequency of symptoms reduced 71.45% vs 48.3%. (ruthp@iimetro.com.au)

Permissions A, Palahang H. (2016). Evaluate the effectiveness of group problem-solving training on marital satisfaction and improve the quality of life in patients with substance dependence (opiate) in Shahrekord. Journal of Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, 18 (2):132-142.  20 exp 8 sess sf groups / 20 no treatment. Marital satisfaction and quality of life significantly improved in exp at 1 mon follow-up.  (Persian)  (palahang2006@yahoo.com 132) 

Pooler, T. (2015). Targeting the Mental Health Needs of Misdemeanor Defendants. New York.http://www.courtinnovation.org/sites/default/files/documents/BCSMHI.pdf 2013: 1950 (23%) of 8,685 screened at Bronx Community Solutions had possible mental health needs. Group / sft individual intervention: less likely to be re-arrested (53% vs. 58%);significantly lower number of re-arrests (1.3 vs. 1.6) within 1 yr. At 2 yr individual session only sample consistently had fewer re-arrests on average than the mental health group only sample.
org.uk/globalassets/documents/research-reports/face-to-face-final-evaluation-report.pdf 

Qi Wenwen, Liu Hongyan (2016). Focus-solving model intervention for anxiety, depression and quality of life in patients with bronchial asthma. China Practical Medicine 1:209-211. Random: 100 exp TAU + sf / 100 controls TAU. Exp significantly lower scores for anxiety and depression (P<0.01); also less discomfort, less response to inducing factors and less psychoreaction to asthma (P<0.01).

Rhee WK, Merbaum M, Strube MJ (2005) Efficacy of brief telephone psychotherapy with callers to a suicide hotline. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior 35:317-328. 55 callers completed study: sft 16, common factors therapy 17, wait list 24. Significant improvement on 10/14 measures for treated groups; no between-group differences. (mmerbaum@wustl.edu)

Roeden, J.M., Maaskant, M.A. & Curfs, L.M.G. (2012). Process and effects of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy with People with Intellectual Disabilities; a Controlled Study. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research. Controlled: 20 people with mild ID receiving SFBT and 18 people with MID receiving care as usual (CAU). 2 of the 20 clients quit SFBT prematurely. Most clients receiving SFBT (13 of 18 clients) showed clinically relevant progressions (more than 2 points on a 1 to 10 scale) towards their treatment goals after SFBT (13 of 18 clients) and at follow-up (14 of 18 clients). Directly after therapy, the SFBT group performed statistically significantly better than the CAU group on psychological functioning, social functioning, maladaptive behaviour, autonomy, and social optimism. At 6 wks follow-up improvements in psychological functioning, social functioning, and maladaptive behaviour were still statistically significant compared to CAU, with medium to large effect sizes. doi: 10.1111/jir.12038  (j.roeden@baalderborggroep.nl)

Roeden JM, Maaskant MA, Curfs LMG (2014). Effectiveness of Solution-focused Coaching of Staff of People With Intellectual Disabilities: A Controlled Study. Journal of Systemic Therapies: Vol. 33, No. 2, pp. 16-34. doi: 10.1521/jsyt.2014.33.2.16. 18 teams with support problem with ID client received sf coaching; 26 control teams received usual coaching as usual. Quality of staff-client relationships measured before / after coaching and 6 wk follow-up. Sf teams significantly improved on proactive thinking and quality of the relationship; both for individual staff members (45 – 59) and teams (18 – 26); progress towards team goal improved. The differences were sustained at follow-up. (j.roeden@baalderborggroep.nl)

Rothwell N (2005) How brief is solution focussed brief therapy? A comparative study. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy 12:402-405. Pseudo-randomization: 41 sft/119 cbt. Sft avg 2 sess, cbt avg 5 sess. No outcome difference on GAF. (Neil.rothwell@fvpc.scot.nhs.uk)

Salahian A, Palahang, H (2016) Examine the effectiveness of group problem solving on marital satisfaction and quality of life in Drug-dependent patients (opiates). Journal of Shahrekord Uuniversity of Medical Sciences, 18. Opiate users: 20 exp 8 sf group sess / 20 no therapy. Marital satisfaction and quality of life significantly improved in exp at 1 mon (P = 0.0001) URL: http://journal.skums.ac.ir/article-1-2276-fa.html   (Persian)

Sarı E, Günaydın N (2016) Effectiveness of solution-focused coping with depression training on depression symptoms. Anatolian Journal of Psychiatry, 17(5):369-375. Depressed students: exp 16 sf 7 sess / 16 placebo: communication skills group / 16 no intervention. 1 mon follow-up: exp significantly lower depression scores. (Turkish) doi: 10.5455/apd.208951

Sanai B, Davarniya R, Bakhtiari Said B, Shakarami M (2015) The Effectiveness of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) on Reducing Couple Burnout and Improvement of the Quality of Life of Married Women. Armaghane-danesh 20(5): 416-432. Married women attending center of mental health helpers in Bojnoord, Iran. 15 exp: 7 wkly 2hr group sess / 15 controls no treatment. Couple burnout measurement (Pains 1996) and WHOQOL(1996) pre and post: marital burnout significantly reduced by 17.53% and quality of life improved by 19.86%; controls no change. (armaghanj.yums.ac.ir) (Persian)

Sari E, Yayci L (2013) The effect of the solution-focused decision-making training program on the vigilant decision-making of university students. International Journal of Academic Research 5(3):159-166. 16 exp: sf decision-making training; 16 controls; 8 placebo. Significant improvement in exp at post-test; maintained 6 wks later.

Sarvi, Z., & Ghazi, M. (2016). Effectiveness of Group Counseling with Solution Focused (Brief) Therapy (SFBT) on Increasing Self- Efficacy of Fifth Grade Primary School Female Students. Modern Applied Science 10(12):1. From 88 fifth grade primary school female students, 16 individuals with lowest scores were selected. 8 exp 5 sf sess / 8 controls no intervention. Self-efficacy improved (p>0.01). DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/mas.v10n12p1

Seagram BC (1997). The efficacy of solution focused therapy with young offenders. Unpublished doctorial dissertation, York University, New York, Ontario, Canada. 40 youths in custody, matched on psychosis, refusal of medications, violent offences. 4 introductory sess for all; 21 exp 10 SF sess / 19 controls no therapy. Significant improvement in concentration, problem-solving and self-confidence in exp. At 6 mon follow-up 20% exp and 42% controls had reoffended. http://apt/resych.org/content/8/149.

Seidel A, Hedley D (2008) The Use of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy With Older Adults in Mexico: A Preliminary Study. American Journal of Family Therapy 36(3): 242-252. 10 exp / 10 controls; 3 sess; various outcome measures. Significant improvement on OQ45 for treatment group. (anke_seidel@hotmail.com)

Short E, Kinman G, Baker S (2010) Evaluating the impact of a peer coaching intervention on well-being amongst psychology undergraduate students. International Coaching Psychology Review 5(1): 27-35. 32 exp receive sf coaching training and 5 sess; 33 no coaching experience or teaching. Less increase in distress in exp; 23 (72%) exp reported intervention to be effective. (emma.short@beds.ac.uk)

Silver Star Jubilee, Sindongyun, Choejungjin (2015) Solution-focused group counseling effects on individual inner empowerment for youth. Korean Journal of Solution-Focused Therapy (KJSFT) 2 (1): 41-64. Exp: 14 volunteers 8 sess sf / 14 controls. Partial improvement for exp in intrapersonal empowerment and planning personal goals. (Korean)

Springer DW, 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. 5 schoolchildren offered 6 session group using sft / interactional / mutual aid approaches vs 5 waiting list controls. Possibly significant increase in self-esteem in exp group.

Stith SM, Rosen KH, McCollum EE, Thomsen CJ (2004) Treating intimate partner violence within intact couple relationships: outcomes of multi-couple versus individual couple therapy. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy 30:305-318. 14/20 individual couples, 16/22 multi-group couples completed program, 9 couples comparison group; all mild-to-moderate violence. Follow-up (females contacted): 6 mon recidivism 43% individual, 25% multi-group, 67% comparison; 2 yr recidivism: 0%, 13% (one client), 50%. (Additional cases reported McCollum EE, Stith SM,)

Sundmann, P (1997) Solution-focused ideas in social work. Journal of Family Therapy 19:159-172. Exp: 9 social workers basic training in solution-focused ideas; 11 controls worked as usual. Session tapes and questionnaires were analysed at 6 mon: 382 clients; 199 (52%) replied. More positive statements, more goal focus and more shared views were found in the exp group. (peter.sundman@taitoba.fi)

Thomsen CJ (2011) Solution-focused brief therapy in the conjoint couples treatment of intimate partner violence. Reduced physical aggression in both sexes for 17/20 individual couples; reduced in males only for 27/29 multi-group couples. In Franklin C, Trepper T, Gingerich WJ, McCollum E. (eds) Solution-focused Brief Therapy: A Handbook of Evidence-Based Practice. Oxford University Press: New York 2011.) (sstith@vt.edu)

Stoddart KP, McDonnell J, Temple V. Mustate A (2001) Is brief better? A modified brief solution-focused therapy approach for adults with a developmental delay. Journal of Systemic Therapies 20:24-41. 16/19 clients complete 8 sess; 6 mon follow-up. Therapy 118 days vs 372 days for long-term comparison group; client satisfaction similar. Better outcome if fewer problems, less developmental delay, real-life goals, self-referred. Clients often requested more sessions. (stoddart@aspergers.net)

Tan Qing-hong, Yan Jian-fen, Zhong Yun-lian, Li Si-zhen, Shi Na (2014) Prevention effect of solution-focused nursing on rebleeding in patients with cirrhosis and esophageal varices. Hainan Medical Journal (1). Patients with esophageal and gastric varices: 60 exp sf nursing / 60 routine nursing. Prevention of rebleeding and blood tests in exp group significantly better (P<0.05). Doi:10.3969/j.issn.1003-6350.2015.01.0052  (Chinese)

Tang Ju-ping, Gu Li-hui, Sun Qing-ling (2013) Application of solution-focused model in the care of dermatitis patients. Chinese Nursing Management 11. Neurodermatitis patients: 46 exp (SF nursing) / 48 control (routine nursing). 3 wks follow-up: significant improvement in treatment effects and anxiety and depression. doi：10.3969/j.issn.1672-1756.2013.011.031 (Chinese)

Triantafillou N (1997) A solution-focused approach to mental health supervision. Journal of Systemic Therapies 16:305-328. Supervision of residential staff. 5 adolescent clients: 66% less incidents, less medication use vs 7 controls: 10% less incidents, medication increased at 16 wks. (Republished with introduction: 2011 InterAction 3(1) 46-83)

Varadhila Peristianto S, Lester S, Asyanti S, M Si P. (2016) Increasing Social Support Parents Through the Solution Focused Therapy in Restoring Quality of Life of Children Schizophrenia (Doctoral dissertation, University of Muhammadiyah Surakarta).  Families with child with schizophrenia: 6 exp group sf / 6 control couples. Significant improvement in social function in exp couples. (Indonesian)

Viner RM, Christie D, Taylor V, Hey S (2003) Motivational/solution-focused intervention improves HbA1c in adolescents with Type 1 diabetes: a pilot study. Diabetic Medicine 20(9):739-42. 77 approached: 21 exp, 20 controls; 2 group sess. Improvement in glycaemic index and Self-efficacy in Diabetes measures at 6 mon.; not sustained at 12 mon. (r.viner@ich.ucl.ac.uk)

Violeta Enea ID (2009) Motivational/solution-focused intervention for reducing school truancy among adolescents. Jour Cognitive & Behavioural Therapies 9(2):185-198. 19 exp / 19 controls age 16-17; 8 group counselling sessions MI / sft. 61% decrease in truancy for exp; no change for controls.

Vostanis P, Anderson L, Window S (2006) Evaluation of a family support service: short-term outcome. Clin Child Psychol Psychiatry 11(4):513-528Family support service A: 51 children; family support B (sf): 49. Matched controls: 40 children referred to CAMHS. Better reduction of HoNOSCA, SDQ and satisfaction scores in both FSS: sf faster. doi: 10.1177/1359104506067874 

Walker L, Hayashi L (2009) Pono Kaulike: reducing violence with restorative justice and solution-focused approaches. Federal Probation 73(1). 4 year pilot programme: 59 eligible; 41 exp, of whom 38 evaluated; 21 controls. 10/38 (26%) reoffend; 12/21 (57%) controls; significant (t=2.17, p<0.05). 06/index.html) (http://www.uscourts.gov/viewer.aspx?doc=/uscourts/FederalCourts/PPS/Fedprob/2009-

Wang Hongmei, Shi Weimin, Qin Zhiqiang (2016) Application of solution focused approach in nursing of patients with advanced schistosomiasis. Chinese Journal of Schistosomiasis Control 28(3) 2013: 53 cases of advanced schistosomiasis random: exp SF nursing interventions / controls usual care. Results of the intervention group were self-care skills, compliance behavior and patient satisfaction significantly better ( P <0.05), less upper gastrointestinal bleeding ( P <0.05), shorter length of stay (P<0.05). (Chinese) doi:10.16250 / j.32.1374.2016019  

Wang, Szu-Hua, Wei, Li-min (2017) The Effects of Solution-Focused Group Counseling on Elementary School Students of Emotion Adjustment.  National Taichung University of Education Institutional Repository. 10 students (6th grade) exp 10 sess sf group twice wkly / 10 controls no therapy. Improved function on several aspects of emotion in exp.  http://ntcuir.ntcu.edu.tw/handle/987654321/12125 (Chinese)

Wells A, Devonald M, Graham V, Molyneux R (2010) Can solution focused techniques help improve mental health and employment outcomes? Journal of Occupational Psychology, Employment and Disability 12(1): 3-15. 82 exp up to 6 sess; 64 completed / 82 controls no intervention. Improved mental health scores, self-esteem, expectation of ability to work on objective measures, scaling. 41 (64%) exp moved into work or work preparation; not significantly different from controls. (alyson.wells@jobcentreplus.gsi.gov.uk)

Wheeler J (1995) Believing in miracles: the implications and possibilities of using solution-focused therapy in a child mental health setting. ACPP Reviews & Newsletter 17:255-261. 3 mon follow-up of 34 (traced) sft referrals and 39 (traced) routine referrals: 23 (68%) vs 17 (44%) satisfied; other clinic resources used by 4 (12%) vs 12 (31%). (John@jwheeler.freeserve.co.uk)

Wiranti A (2016) Focused group counseling solution to enhance self regulated learning in student athlete in Sman 4 Surabaya (Doctoral dissertation, University of Airlangga). 12 student athletes sf group counseling / 12 no intervention. No change in self-regulated learning at post-test but exp had higher scores at pre-test. (Indonesian)

Xie Feina, Wang Yan, He Fengying, Shi Ming (2016) A solution-focused educational approach to patients after hepatectomy in crisis response capacity. Chinese Journal of Modern Nursing 22(16). Post-hepatectomy patients: 45 exp SF nursing / 45 controls. Crisis response capacity and emotional, cognitive and behavioral scores lower in exp (P <0.05). (Chinese) doi： 10.3760/cma.j.issn.1674-2907.2016.16.006 

Xu Lian-fang, Chen Run-fang, Xiao Pei-duo, Huang Li-fang (2014) The effects of solution-focused approach in psychological intervention of sitting at early stage in post-operative elders with hip fracture. Journal of Nursing Administration 14(11). 206 elderly patients with hip fracture: alternate allocation 103 exp: sft / 103 controls bicycle exercise; both groups out of bed early. Fewer concerns, coping better in exp group (P <0.01; P <0.05). (Chinese)

Yang F-R, Zhu S-L, Luo W-F (2005). Comparative study of solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) combined with paroxetine in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Chinese Mental Health Journal, 19(4), 288-290. OCD: 30 exp / 30 controls. Paroxetine in standard dose; exp received 6-8 sft sess. 83.3% exp vs 60% controls improved on Y-BOCS at 2 wk follow-up. (Chinese; abstract in English)

Zhang Feifei (2016). Application of focus solution model in patient respiratory function training. Master’s thesis, Zhengzhou University. 111 patients: nurses divide exp SF health education / controls routine health education.  Post-intervention: tidal volume scores, cough pain scores, knowledge of condition all significantly improved P <0.01). Doi:R473.6 (Chinese)

Zhang Wei, Yan Ting-ting, Du Ya-song, Liu Xiao-hong (2014) Brief Report: Effects of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy Group-Work on Promoting Post-traumatic Growth of Mothers Who Have a Child with ASD. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. Quasi-experimental design:18 mothers in 2 groups, n = 9 in each: 6-session SFBT group therapy / 25 mothers control group: no treatment. Significant increase in Post-traumatic Growth Inventory levels at 6 mon follow-up. (Chinese)

Zhang Wei  (2015) Thesis: Solution Focused Brief intervention group parents of autistic children after traumatic effect on the growth of research. Second Military Medical University (cdmd.cnki.com.cn) Detailed analysis of views from 5 special rehabilitation institutions and 104 parents of children with autism.  45 parents of children with autism: 20 undergo 6×1 wk SFBT group intervention; controls 25 parents of children with autism. Rating scales before therapy and 6 mon after. Post-traumatic growth, “new possibilities” and “relations with others” scores statistically significant at 6 mon (P <0.05). (Chinese)

Zhang Xi-xia, Zhang Lan-feng, Liu Min-jie. (2013) Effect of solution-focused approach combined with auricular acupressure on anxiety and pain of patients with postmenopausal cervical cancer during and after loading brachytherapy. Chinese Journal of Modern Nursing 34. 60 exp (SF nursing; acupressure) / 60 controls (routine nursing); self-rating anxiety scale similar in both groups. One wk follow-up:; significant reduction in anxiety and pain and improved satisfaction. doi：10.3760/cma.j.issn.1674-2907.2013.34.014  (Chinese)

Zhao Zhengqing, Lai Jing (2016) Effects of solution-focused approach on self-management behavior of young and middle-aged patients with COPD. Chinese Journal of Modern Nursing 22(18). 76 cases aged <60 years; exp sf nursing / controls TAU. Self-care behavior,COPD assessment, dyspnea scores and pulmonary function test results better in exp.(P <0.05). (Chinese) doi：10.3760/cma.j.issn.1674-2907.2016.18.015

Zhou Li-rui (2014) Effect analysis of applying solution-focused approach in health education for IVF-ET patients China Practical Medical 32. In vitro fertilization and embryo transplantation patients: 60 exp: 5xsf sess / 60 controls TAU. Hamilton anxiety scale (HAMA), Hamilton depression scale (HAMD) and social support rating scale (SSRS): after transplantation exp scores were significantly improved (P<0.05). (Chinese)

Zhou Yu-zhen Wang Ya-qin (2015) The effect of nursing intervention based on self-care model and solution focused approach on the abilities of daily living in patients after stroke. Chinese Journal of Nursing Education 12(9) 100 exp: sf and usual care / 98 controls usual care. Daily living skills and hope significantly higher (P<0.05) in exp after treatment package.  doi:10.3761/j.issn.1672-9234.2015.09.014 (Chinese)

Zimmerman TS, Jacobsen RB, MacIntyre M, Watson C (1996) Solution-focused parenting groups: an empirical study. Journal of Systemic Therapies 15:12-25. 30 clients, 6 sess; 12 controls no treatment. Significant improvement on Parenting Skills Inventory; no change on Family Strengths Assessment. (lindsay@picasso.colostate.edu)

Zimmerman TS, Prest LA, Wetzel BE (1997) Solution-focused couples therapy groups: an empirical study. Journal of Family Therapy 19:125-144. 23 exp; 6 weekly groups / 13 no-treatment controls. Several relationship measures improved in exp group.

NATURALISTIC STUDIES (82)

Archuleta KL, Burr EA, Bell Carlson M, Ingram J, Irwin Kruger L, Grable J, Ford M. (2015) Solution Focused Financial Therapy: A Brief Report of a Pilot Study. Journal of Financial Therapy 6(1):2. http://dx.doi.org/10.4148/1944-9771.1081 Pilot study: solution-focused financial therapy client intervention approach. 8 college students: variety of financial issues related to budgeting, investing and debt repayment problems. 3 mon follow-up: psychological well-being and financial behaviors improved, financial distress decreased.

Belciug C, Franklin C, Bolton KW, Jordan C, Lehmann P (2016). Effects of Goal Commitment and Solution Building on the Completion Rates for a Juvenile Diversion Program. Criminal Justice and Behavior 43(7):923-936. Uses goal-setting theory to explore the effects of goal commitment (N=112) and solution building (scores 56.6±9.48) on program completion (N=106) in a sample of 159 violent first-time offenders. Solution building significantly increased program completion. doi:10.1177/0093854815626753 (connie.belciug@utexas.edu)

Bell, R, Skinner C, Halbrook M (2011) Solution-Focused Guided Imagery as an Intervention for Golfers with the Yips. Journal of Imagery Research in Sport and Physical Activity 6(1):1-16. 4 experienced golfers; multiple-baseline across participant design; solution-focused guided imagery (SFGI) for Type I yips. Data collected during actual 9-hole matches; 5 interventions. Follow-up 12-14 wks: effect maintained. Effects on other task-specific focal hand dystonias e.g., musicians, tennis players?

Bell R, Skinner C, Fisher L (2009) Decreasing Putting Yips in Accomplished Golfers via Solution-Focused Guided Imagery: A Single-Subject Research Design. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology 21(1): 1-14. 3 golfers; 5 sess treatment: sf guided imagery. 3 wk follow-up showed improvement. (robbell@bsu.edu)

Beyebach M, Rodriguez Sanchez M S, Arribas de Miguel J, Herrero de Vega M, Hernandez C, Rodriguez Morejon, A (2000) Outcome of solution-focused therapy at a university family therapy center. Journal of Systemic Therapies 19:116-128. 83 cases; telephone follow-up, most 1 yr +. 82% satisfied; better outcome for ‘individual’ problems than for ‘relational’; more dropout for trainees; avg 4.7 sess. (mark.beyebach@upsa.es)

Bilge, A., & Engin, E. (2016). Effectiveness of the solution focused therapy which is based on interpersonal relationship theory: retrospective investigation. Anatolian Journal of Psychiatry 17(4), 261-269. 36 students with psychological issues: 5 sess individual SFBT (Peplau version). Mean scores for anxiety, depression and problem solving significantly improved post-therapy. (Turkish) doi:10.5455/apd.213725

Brown EA, Dillenburger K (2004) An evaluation of the effectiveness of intervention in families with children with behavioural problems within the context of a Sure Start programme. Child Care in Practice 10:63-67. 12 children; Parent Management Training and sft; detailed measures; one mon follow-up. 5 improved; 5 borderline change; 2 (1 fostered) improved untreated.

Burr W (1993) Evaluation der Anwendung losungsorientierter Kurztherapie in einer kinder- und jugendpsychiartischen Praxis (Evaluation of the use of brief therapy in a practice for children and adolescents). Familiendynamik 18:11-21. (German: abstract in English.) 55 cases; follow-up avg 9 mon. 34 replies; 26 (77%) improved. Avg 4 sess; new problems reported in 4 with improvement and 4 without. (wburr@t-online.de)

Cho, Hee-Ju (2016). The Effects of Resolution-Oriented Reading Therapy on Ego-resilience of Elementary School Students. Area and Culture 3(2):29-50. 254 students: 16 in bottom 10% for resilience. Sf reading programme effective in promoting elementary school students’ ego-resilience. URL http://www.earticle.net/article.aspx?sn=306686 (Korean)

Conoley CW, Graham JM, Neu T, Craig MC, O’Pry A, Cardin SA, Brossart DF, Parker RI (2003) Solution-focused family therapy with three aggressive and oppositional-acting children: an N=1 empirical study. Family Process 42:361-374. Manual and objective measures; avg 4.6 sess; 3 mon follow-up. 3/3 satisfied with result. (collie-conoley@tamu.edu)

Cortes B, Ballesteros A, Collantes J, Aguilar ML (2016) What makes for good outcomes in solution-focused brief therapy? A follow-up study. European Psychiatry 33:S232-S233. 74 cases; telephone follow-up 6 – 39 mon (mean 15.6 mon) after termination. Goals reached 88%; complaint totally resolved 17% (26% when dropouts excluded); complaint partially resolved 76% (65% when dropouts excluded). 86% successful at termination; 67% at follow-up. No specific clinical or process variables associated with success. doi:10.1016/j.eurpsy.2016.01.580

Cruz J, Littrell JM (1998) Brief counseling with Hispanic American college students. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development 26:227-238. 16 students; 2 sess; follow-up 2 wk. 62.5% improved.

Darmody M, Adams B (2003): Outcome research on solution-focused brief therapy. Journal of Primary Care Mental Health 7:70-75. Goals, Coping Resources Inventory (CRI), client and therapist perception of session content. 20 cases; 3 mon follow-up. Overall change not significant; intrapersonal problems did better; clients saw conversation about past as more important than did therapists. (Melissa@brieftherapy.ie)

DeJong P, Hopwood LE Outcome research on treatment conducted at the Brief Family Therapy Center 1992-1993. In Miller SD, Hubble MA, Duncan BL (eds) (1996) Handbook of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy. Jossey-Bass: San Francisco (p272-298). 275 cases: age 50%<19, 93%<45; avg 2.9 sess; follow-up avg 8 mon; 136 contacted. 45% goal achieved, 32% some progress. Equal outcomes by age, gender, race, economic status. (Immediate post therapy measure of change in scaling scores for 141 collected: 25% significant progress; 49% moderate progress; 26% no progress. Berg IK, DeJong P (1996) Solution-building Conversations: Co-Constructing a Sense of Competence with Clients. Families in Society, 77:376-391) (djon@calvin.edu)

de Shazer S (1985) Keys to Solutions in Brief Therapy. Norton: New York. (p147-157). 6 mon follow-up of 28 cases after formula first session task. 23 (82%) improved; 11 solved other problems. Avg 5 sess.

de Shazer S (1991) Putting Differences To Work. Norton: New York. (p161-162). At 18 mon follow-up 86% reported success; 67% reported other improvements also. Avg 4.6 sess: >3 sess did better.

de Shazer S, Berg IK, Lipchik E, Nunnally E, Molnar A, Gingerich W, Weiner-Davis M (1986) Brief therapy: focused solution development. Family Process 25:207-222. Telephone follow-up of 25% of 1600 cases seen during a 5 year period; 72% improved; avg 6 sess.

de Shazer, S, Isebaert L (2003) The Bruges Model: a solution-focused approach to problem drinking. Journal of Family Psychotherapy 14:43-52. 4 yr telephone follow-up of 131 alcoholics after inpatient episode: 118 contactable, 9 dead. 100 (84%) abstinent (60) or successfully controlled their drinking (40). 4 yr telephone follow-up of 72 alcoholics after outpatient treatment: 59 (82%) contacted: abstinent (36) or successfully controlled (23). Only relevant variable was therapy; social class was not a factor. (luc.isebaert@YAHOO.COM).

Dumciene A, Rakauskiene V (2014) Encouragement of Physical Activity among Students by Employing Short-term Educational Counselling. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences 116:1523-152. 92 students; after sf counseling, 44.6% previously facing physical activity issues achieved prominent changes, 21.7% achieved medium changes and 33.7% showed minor changes. Physical activity increased, p<0.05. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.01.428

Fadilah N, Setiawati D (2015). Application solution brief focused therapy (sfbt) to improve disclosure of self in Class VIII SMPN 1 Prambon. Jurnal BK UNESA 5(3). 5 junior high school; low self-disclosure; improved significantly post-test after sf counseling. (nurfadillah994@ymail.com) (Indonesian)

Fernandes P (2015) Evaluation of the Face to Face service. Using a solution-focused approach with children and young people in care or on the edge of care. NSPCC: 611 young people; up to 8 sess. 58% (355) young people had scores indicating distress; reduced to 15% (94) at end. 103 contacted at 3 mon: 82% (80) still improved. No differences in outcomes related to age or learning difficulty.https://www.nspcc.org.uk/globalassets/documents/research-reports/face-to-face-final-evaluation-report.pdf

Fernie L, Cubeddu D (2016). WOWW: a solution orientated approach to enhance classroom relationships and behaviour within a Primary three class. Educational Psychology in Practice, 1-12. Trainee educational psychologists; 24 children. WOWW 2 sess per week for 3 weeks. Children record scaling each week: improvement in good listening, working together. Class teacher: positive change in peer relationships, tolerance, ability to get on with peers, respect within the class, collaborative working, and teacher confidence. 
DOI: 10.1080/02667363.2016.1146574

Flores LV (2005) Terapia grupal centrada en soluciones con personas que han tenido intento de suicidio. Revista de Psicología 7: 32-41. 3 suicidal patients; 6 sf group sess. Significant improvement 6 mon after treatment. (lorena_villanueva@yahoo.com) (Spanish)

Franklin C, Biever JL, Moore KC, Clemons D, Scamardo, M (2001) The effectiveness of solution-focused therapy with children in a school setting. Research on Social Work Practice 11:411-434. 19 cases with learning problems: 7 investigated. 1 mon follow-up (objective measures); avg 7 sess. Some improvement in all; 6 of 7 better. 

Franklin C, Corcoran J, Nowicki J, Streeter CL (1997) Using client self-anchored scales to measure outcomes in solution-focused therapy. Journal of Systemic Therapies 16:246-265. Pilot study (3 cases) of this measure as a test of outcome.

George E, Iveson, C, Ratner H (1990) Problem to Solution. Brief Therapy Press: London. 6 mon telephone follow-up: 41 (66%) of 62 traced were satisfied. (brief3@aol.com)

Golby J, Wood P (2016) The Effects of Psychological Skills Training on Mental Toughness and Psychological Well-Being of Student-Athletes. Psychology 7:901-913. 16 student-athlete rowers; 4 sess 90 min sf groups. Results at 6 mon: mental toughness improved and also self-efficacy, self-esteem and positive affect. (p.j.wood@leedsbeckett.ac.uk) doi: 10.4236/psych.2016.76092

Grant AM, O’Connor SA (2010) The Differential Effects of Solution-focused and Problem-focused Coaching Questions: A Pilot Study with Implications for Practice. Industrial and Commercial Training Journal 42(2):102-111. 39 students had problem-focused coaching session with pre and post measures; then 35 of them had sf session with pre and post measures. More increase in goal approach and positive affect in sf group. (anthonyg@psych.usyd.edu.au)

Green LS, Oades LG, Grant AM (2006) Cognitive-behavioral, solution-focused life coaching: Enhancing goal striving, well-being, and hope. Journal of Positive Psychology 1:142-149. Self selected adults: 25 exp, 25 control; 16 hr training in self-coaching. 18 exp (no controls) follow-up at 30 wks: significant improvements in goal striving, wellbeing and hope. (suzygreen@optusnet.com.au)

Hanton P (2008) Measuring solution focused brief therapy in use with clients with moderate to severe depression using a ‘bricolage’research methodology. Solution Research, 1(1): 16-24. Depression in adults: 10 cases. Beck Depression scores pre and post therapy; post therapy interview. 7 completed data: avg improvement in BDI score 55.12%. Relationship, future focus and compliments identified as most useful; break and feedback least useful. (paulhanton@blueyonder.co.uk)

He Hong, Huang Hui-wen, Zhang Jing, Zhang Xiao-yi (2013) Effect of solution focused approach on patients using insulin pen for self-injection. Chinese Journal of Modern Nursing 19(19). doi:10.3760/cma.j.issn.1674-2907.2013.19.014 124 outpatients with type 2 diabetes at Nantong University clinic; random split exp. (SF) and control (education). After intervention skills of insulin injection improved in exp (P＜0.05) and incidence of adverse reactions lower. Mastery in both groups was significantly better. (Chinese)

Hendrick S, Isebaert L, Dolan Y (2011) Solution-focused brief therapy in alcohol treatment. 2 studies and update of de Shazer S, Isebaert L 2003. de Stecker E: 30 subjects (60% male); median age 45; 60% live alone. Significant improvement at 1 yr: 11.93 units/day reduce to 7.76. Opperman T: 30 cases (60% male); 83% live alone. 19 (63.3%) improved: 168g/day reduce to 79; 11 in better physical health at 1 yr. In Franklin C, Trepper T, Gingerich WJ, McCollum E. (eds) Solution-focused Brief Therapy: A Handbook of Evidence-Based Practice. Oxford University Press: New York 2011.

Hinchey MC (2015) The implementation of solution-focused brief therapy (sfbt) with at-risk youth in an alternative school environment. Theses and Dissertations–Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology. Paper 37. 6 at-risk youth in an alternative school setting; 6 sess sft. Significant and reliable behavioural change in 4. 6 wk follow-up: 4 contacted: 3 maintained the changes. http://uknowledge.uky.edu/edp_etds/37.

Hsieh, Ko-Jou (2016) Solution-Focused Group Therapy for Pain Management in Patients with Spinal Cord Injury. National Taipei University of Nursing and Health Sciences Institutional Repository. 26 participants; 90 min pain management group weekly for 6 weeks. Changes after group therapy were measured, including pain intensity. Lower now-pain intensity and higher pain self-efficacy significantly; better post-traumatic growth. There were more pain-related improvements in female and elderly. (Chinese) http://140.131.94.7/handle/987654321/4758

Hsu W-S, Yu-Hsuan Yu (2017) The effects of a solution-focused supervisors’ training program for school counselors. Chinese Journal of Guidance and Counseling 49:147-182. 15 high school counselors: 51 hrs sf supervision training. Kirkpatrick Four-Level question sets and feedback sheets before: significant improvement in all (P<0.001) at one mon follow-up. (shuepcyyh@gmail.com) (Chinese)

Hsu Wei-Su, Hsin-Jung Lin, So-Tyan Melody Sun, Hsuan-Jung Chen (2017) The Training Effects of Solution-Focused Brief Counseling on Telephone-Counseling Volunteers in Taiwan. Journal of Family Psychotherapy (online): 1-18. 14 hotline volunteers recruited from Taipei Lifeline received 24 hours of sf brief counseling training over 3 days. At 1 mon follow-up features reported helpful: rapid learning of sf counseling skills, basic knowledge of sf, enhanced confidence, positive influence on volunteers’ personal life, effective ways to learn. Doi: 10.1080/08975353.2017.1297066

Jacobs RH, Becker SJ, Curry JF, Silva SG Ginsburg GS, Henry DB, Reinecke MA (2014) Increasing positive outlook partially mediates the effect of empirically supported treatments on depression symptoms among adolescents. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy 1:3-19. 291 adolescents in Treatment for Adolescents with Depression Study (TADS). Change in 4 cognitive constructs (cognitive distortions, cognitive avoidance, positive outlook, and solution-focused thinking) mediated change in depression severity in a sample treated with CBT, fluoxetine or both. All 3 treatments were associated with change in the cognitive constructs; combination treatment produced the greatest change. Positive outlook was the construct most associated with changes over 36 wks. Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1891/0889-8391.28.1.3

Johnson LD, Shaha S (1996) Improving quality in psychotherapy. Psychotherapy 33:225-236. 38 cases, OQ-45 checklist (symptoms, relationships, social role). Improvement after avg. 4.77 sess. (ljohnson@INCONNECT.COM)

Koorankot J, Mukherjee T, Ashraf ZAA (2014) Solution-Focused brief therapy for depression in an Indian tribal community: a pilot study. International Journal of Solution-Focused Practices 2(1):4-8. Part of larger continuing study: 9 patients: sft and SSRI antidepressant. 2 wk follow-up: 1 worse, 1 marginal, 7 significantly improved. ‘Miracles’ part of their culture but not during sleep. DOI 10.14335/ijsfp.v2i1.16 (jaseemclt@gmail.com)

Kreier F. Genco SM, Boreel M, Langkemper MP, Nugteren IC, Rijnveld V, Thissen V, Deden S, Keessen M. (2013) An Individual, Community-Based Treatment for Obese Children and Their Families: The Solution-Focused Approach. Obesity Facts 6:424-432. 559 obese children, avg BMI z-score of 2.76 ± 0.54 (12 mon study); 372 children avg BMI z-score of 2.75 ± 0.52 (24 mon study). 291 children (52%) completed 12 mon treatment; 22 (4%) dismissed earlier due to a good response. After 12 mon, the children showed a significant decrease in BMI z-score. 24 mon: 103 children (28%) significant decrease in BMI z-score of 0.15. 50 children (13%) dismissed before 24 mon due to significant weight loss. Negative correlation of age and reduction in BMI z-score for younger than 6 yrs. DOI:10.1159/000355909 (f.kreier@olvg.nl)

Kvarme, LG, Aabo LS, Saeteren B (2013) “I feel I mean something to someone”: solution-focused brief therapy support groups for bullied schoolchildren. Educational Psychology in Practice: theory, research and practice in educational psychology 29(4): 416-431. 19 schoolchildren, aged 12–13 years, 3 of whom were bullied. 6 interviews were conducted with the bullied children and 3 focus group interviews were held with the support groups. The bullied children reported that the bullying stopped after they received help from the support group and the improvements remained after three months. Their daily lives at school changed and they felt safer and happier and made friends. Members of the support groups reported that they were doing a meaningful job in helping the victims. doi:10.1080/02667363.2013.859569 (lisbeth.kvarme@diakonova.no)

Lee MY (1997) A study of solution-focused brief family therapy: outcomes and issues. American Journal of Family Therapy 25:3-17. 59 children; various problems; 6 mon telephone follow-up, independent raters. 64.9% improved (goal achieved 54.4%; part goal 10.5%) avg 5.5 sess. (lee.355@osu.edu)

Lee MY, Greene GJ, Uken A, Sebold J, Rheinsheld J (1997) Solution-focused brief group treatment: a viable modality for domestic violence offenders? Journal of Collaborative Therapies IV:10-17. Sciotto study: 117 clients, 1993-1997; standard 6 sess completed by 88. 7% (6) reoffend by 1997. Plumas study: 1994-1996: 34 clients; avg 7 sess; 3% (1) reoffend by 1997. (pcmhs@psln.com) (uken@jps.net)

Lee MY, Greene GJ, Mentzer RA, Pinnell S, Niles D (2001) Solution-focused brief therapy and the treatment of depression: a pilot study. Journal of Brief Therapy 1:33-49. 10 clients, all had 6 sess. 9 improved on all measures at 6 mon.

Lee MY, Sebold J, Uken A (2003) Solution-focused treatment of domestic violence offenders. Oxford: New York. 90 treated (77 male); few dropouts from 8-sess programme. 48 (+22 partners) traced at 6 mon. Self-esteem and solution finding better; 16.7% cumulative recidivism over 6 yrs. Childhood abuse predicts recidivism.

Lee MY, Sebold J, Uken A (2007) Roles of self determined goals in predicting recidivism in domestic violence offenders. Research on Social Work Practice 17:30-41. 1996-2004: 127 seen, 88 traced (70 male); completion (7 of 8 sess) 92.8%. 10.3% recidivism. Agreed goals and specific goals predict more confidence and less recidivism. Brain injury predicts recidivism; child abuse not found to predict.

Li S, Armstrong MS, Chaim G, Kelly C, Shenfeld J (2007) Group and Individual Couple Treatment for Substance Abuse Clients: A Pilot Study. American Journal of Family Therapy 35:221-233. 27 couples: 20 complete: multiple couples group 13/15; individual couples group 7/12; no significant differences between group results. 80% (43) traced at 6 mon: 46% (20) ‘a great deal better’; 49% (21) ‘helped somewhat’. (selina.li@camh.net)

Macdonald AJ (1994) Brief therapy in adult psychiatry. Journal of Family Therapy 16:415-426. 41 cases; 1 yr follow-up. 29 (70%) improved; more success if >4 sess; longstanding problems did less well. Equal outcome for all social classes; avg 3.7 sess. (macdonald@solutionsdoc.co.uk)

Macdonald AJ (1997) Brief therapy in adult psychiatry: further outcomes. Journal of Family Therapy 19:213-222. 36 cases; 1 yr follow-up. 23 (64%) improved; other problems solved in 10 with good outcome and 2 in the other group. Longstanding problems did less well; equal outcome for all social classes; avg 3.3 sess.

Macdonald AJ (2005) Brief therapy in adult psychiatry: results from 15 years of practice. Journal of Family Therapy 27:65-75. Further 41 cases reported; 1 yr follow-up. 31 (76%) improved; avg 5.02 sess; 20% single sess. Combined total 118; 83 (70%) improved; avg 4.03 sess; 25% single sess. Fewer new problems in good outcome group. Longstanding problems predict less improvement; equal outcome for all social classes.

McGilton K, Irwin-Robertson H, Boscart V, Spanjevic L (2006) Communication enhancement: nurse and patient satisfaction outcomes in a complex nursing continuing care facility. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 54:35-44. 21 nurses, 16 patients; sft communication enhancement training; 10 wk follow-up. Nurses felt closer to patients and had higher job satisfaction (statistically significant). (mcgilton.kathy@torontorehab.on.ca)

Milner J, Jessop D (2003) Domestic violence: narrative and solutions. Probation Journal 50:127-141. 23 referrals; 20 cases (3 female) completed; individual or family work; 18 month follow-up. 19 (95%) not reoffend. Avg 5 sess. (judithmilner@tiscali.co.uk)

Milner J, Singleton T (2008) Domestic violence: solution-focused practice with men and women who are violent. Journal of Family Therapy 30:27-51. 68 referrals (16 female); avg 4.3 sess; 50 completed programme. Not reoffended according to multiple sources at minimum 3.5 yr follow-up = 73% good outcome.

Morrison JA, Olivos K, Dominguez G, Gomez D, Lena D (1993) The application of family systems approaches to school behaviour problems on a school-level discipline board: an outcome study. Elementary School Guidance & Counselling 27:258-272. 30 with school problems (6 special education); 1-7 sess. 23 improved but 7 relapsed.

Newsome WS (2005) The Impact of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy with At-Risk Junior High School Students. Children & Schools 87:83-91. 26 preteens; improved social skills after minimum 5 of 8 group sess at 6 wk follow-up. Classroom behaviour and homework completion had also improved. (snewsome@uic.edu)

Ng Bacon, Provident I (2014) Self-Directed Online Solution-Focused Coaching Used to Reduce Occupational Stress. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. May 2014, 20(5): A102-A103. 18 exp: 4 sess online therapy designed to help health care professionals investigate self-identified problems in their lives. 11 responders post-test: decreased occupational stress, emotional exhaustion, improvement of personal achievement, empathy, energy level, self-confidence and satisfaction in life (p<.05). Significant improvement of self-perceived life situation, p=.02. doi:10.1089/acm.2014.5271.abstract.

Northcott S, Burns K, Simpson A, Hilari, K (2015) “Living with aphasia the best way I can”: a feasibility study exploring solution focused brief therapy for people with aphasia. Folia Phoniatrica Logopedica, Three men and two women with chronic aphasia took part; age range 40s to 70s. Improved mood GHQ from mean 4.8 to mean 2.00; improved communicative participation from mean 7.80 to mean 12.20. No change in social network / connectedness. http://www.karger.com/Journal/Home/224177

Perez Grande MD (1991) Evaluacion de resultados en terapia sistemica breve (Evaluation of results in brief systemic therapy). Cuadernos de Terapia Familiar (Family Therapy Notebooks18:93-110. 97 cases, 25% children; avg 5 sess. 71% better at end. 6-35 (avg 19) mon telephone follow-up: 81 traced. 13% relapse; 36% other problems better. More dropout if longstanding problem.

Perkins R, Scarlett G (2008) The effectiveness of single session therapy in child and adolescent mental health. Part 2: an 18-month follow-up study. Psychology & Psychotherapy: Theory, Research & Practice 81(2):143-56. Follow-up of 2006 cohort: 152 children, 91 traced. 60.5% 1 sess; 9.7% five or more. No increase in frequency or severity of symptoms after 18 mon.

Reinehr T, Kleber M, Lass N, Toschke AM (2010) Body mass index patterns over 5 y in obese children motivated to participate in a 1-y lifestyle intervention: age as a predictor of long-term success. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 91:1165-1171. 663 obese children: 6 sessions sf plus nutrition / exercise programme (‘Obeldicks’). Significant mean change in BMI at 5yr: 0.46; best effect in younger children. (Several similar studies by same team.) (t.reinehr@kinderklinik-datteln.de).

Roeden JM, Maaskant MA, Bannink FP, Curfs, LMG (2011) Solution-Focused Brief Therapy With People With Mild Intellectual Disabilities: A Case Series. Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities, 8: 247–255. 10 cases with a mild intellectual disability. 6 wk follow-up: improved on quality of life, less maladaptive behavior, goal attainment according to subjects and carers. doi: 10.1111/j.1741-1130.2011.00317.x (j.roeden@baalderborggroep.nl)

Sabri, F. (2016) Solution-Focused group therapy in a residential care setting: an outcome study conducted in Malaysia. Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University. 57 post-withdrawal drug users; SF group therapy 4 sess over 4 wk. OQ/CORE pre/post: significant improvement in treatment outcomes (P<0.001) and psychological well-being (P<0.001). https://etd.ohiolink.edu/!etd.send_file?accession=kent1466589637&disposition=inline

Sawitree Lakthong, Nujjaree N. Chaimongkol, Pornpat Hengudomsub (2017) Sustained recovery process by treatment groups focused on finding solutions in young Thai men who use narcotic substances, pilot study. Journal of the Royal Thai Army Nurses 18 (suppl.):315-325. 8 users: cannabis, amfetamine, ICE; 6 sess sf group. Significant improvement on Recovery Process Inventory at 4 wk follow-up. (Thai) (nujjaree@buu.ac.th)

Shennan G (2003) The early response project: a voluntary sector contribution to CAMHS. Child And Adolescent Mental Health In Primary Care 1:46-50. 558 referrals; 415 families seen. 1-21 sess, avg 2.7. Telephone follow-up at 6-9 mon: 40 of 72 parents contacted. 62.5% improved; 75% report improved coping ability; avg 2.7 sess. (guyshennan@sfpractice.co.uk)

Shennan G, Iveson C (2011) From Solution to Description: Practice and Research in Tandem. In Franklin C, Trepper T, Gingerich WJ, McCollum E (eds) Solution-focused Brief Therapy: A Handbook of Evidence-Based Practice. Oxford University Press: New York 2011. 4 studies. 24 clients, 6 mon-1 yr follow-up: 23 (83%) better, 1 (3%) worse. 39 clients, avg 18 mon follow-up: 31 (80%) better, 2 (5%) worse. 57 clients, ?-3 yr follow-up: 24 (59.7%) improved, 2 (3.5%) worse. 25 clients, 8 mon-16 mon follow-up: ‘best hopes’ achieved by 14 (56%), little 7 (28%), not at all 4 (16%).

Simm R, Iddon J, Barker C (2013) A community pain service solution-focused pain management programme: delivery and preliminary outcome data. British Journal of Pain 7(4) 63 female/22 male; significantly better well-being at 12 mon follow-up but only 14 replies. doi: 10.1177/2049463713507910 (becky.simm@nhs.net)

Simm, R, Iddon J, Barker C (2014) A community pain service solution-focused pain management programme: delivery and preliminary outcome data. British Journal of Pain 8(1):49-56. doi: 10.1177/2049463713507910 2x1hr exercise / 3hr discussion in each of 8 wks. 63 females / 22 males who attended 75% of sessions found significant change at 10 wks for self-efficacy and function and improvements in mental well-being at 12 mon.

Simon JK, Nelson TS (2007) Solution-Focused Brief Practice With Long-Term Clients In Mental Health Services ‘I Am More Than My Label’. Haworth Press: New York (p 135-6). 1997-8: 2 clinics, 1 psychodynamic, 1 sf. 781 cases vs 1673; 631 sessions vs 763 per therapist, so greater income from sf clinic. (jsimon14@hvc.rr.com)

Siwilai White Mok (2014) Results of the program to modify the view to focus on finding a solution for patients with schizophrenia who received drug psychoses. Journal of Psychiatric Nursing and Mental Health 25(3): 56-68 (Thailand). 14 non-compliant patients with schizophrenia: 5 x 1 hr program using sf reframing program. Improved self-confidence, compliance and activities of daily living.

Sommers-Flanagan J, Polanchek S, Zeleke WA, Hood MHE, Shaw SL (2014) Effectiveness of Solution-Focused Consultations on Parent Stress and Competence. The Family Journal. 45 parents; 2 sess consultation. Significant reductions in parenting stress and increased parenting self-efficacy. doi:10.1177/1066480714555696 (john.sf@mso.umt.edu)

Taylor WF (2013) Effects of SFBT group counseling on generalized anxiety disorder. (Thesis; Walden University) 30 clients; mean posttest score (M = 11.20) significantly lower than the mean pretest score, p<0.01.

Thanidawan Wanthaneeyakul, Pennapha Koolnaphadol (2016) The effect of individual solution focus brief therapy on emotion regulation of adolescent mothers. Research Methodology & Cognitive Science 13 (1):18-26. 13 mothers aged between 15-19 years old who attended family planning at Buddhasothorn Hospital, Chachoengsao. 8 sess sf groups: significantly higher emotional regulation (P<0.05) at post-test and 2 wk follow-up. (Thai) (tha_ni55@hotmail.com)

Thompson R, Littrell JM (2000) Brief counseling for students with learning disabilities. The School Counselor 2:60-7. 12 students; 2 sess; follow-up 2 wk. 10 achieved 100% of goal.

Vaughn K, Young BC, Webster DC, Thomas MR. A continuum-of-care model for inpatient psychiatric treatment. In Miller SD, Hubble MA, Duncan BL (eds) (1996) Handbook of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy. Jossey-Bass: San Francisco (p99-127). 688 cases before sft model: avg stay 20.2 days; 675 cases after: avg stay 6.6 days.

Walker L, Greening R (2010) Huikahi Restorative Circles: a public health approach for reentry planning. Federal Probation Journal 74(1). 16/23 (70%) not reoffend at 2 yrs, while State 3 yr recidivism is 54.7%.

Wang, Hsueh-Lien (2016) Case Study of the Solution-Focused Brief Therapy applied to Non-Suicidal Self-Injury Adolescents：The Broaden-and-Build Theory of Positive Emotions Perspectives. National Taipei University of Nursing and Health Sciences Institutional Repository http://140.131.94.7/handle/987654321/4754 2 juveniles under reformatory education in one juvenile correctional facility: 12 SFBT sess each. More empowered and better emotional regulation including accepting their own emotions. (Chinese)

Wilson A, Hong H (2015) Acupuncture as a Viable Adjunct to Psychotherapy for Generalized Anxiety Disorder. International Journal of Clinical Acupuncture 24(4):231-235. 10 clients with generalised anxiety disorder: SFT and acupuncture for 6 wk. All remained improved at 6 wk follow-up.

Wiseman S (2003) Brief intervention: reducing the repetition of deliberate self-harm. Nursing Times 99: 34-36. First self-harm 40 clients; 1 sess. Up to 6 mon follow-up: 39 (97%) no repeat; 78% improved on self-scaling.

Young S (1998) The support group approach to bullying in schools. Education Psychology in Practice, 14(1): 32-39. 47/50 bullying stopped. 40 (80%) stopped at once; remainder stopped within 5 wk. None worse.

Young S, Holdorf G (2003) Using solution-focused brief therapy in referrals for bullying. Education Psychology in Practice, 19(4): 271-282. 92 cases (26 single session cases excluded from analysis); one quarter from primary schools. 85 (92%) successful; avg 3.4 sess.

Yu Jinmei, Lu Wanjun, Chen Aimei, Jiang Yan, Zhang Min, Zhong Boqin, Yan Qingyue, Huang Jin (2016) Application of solution-focused nursing approach in warfarin therapy for atrial fibrillation patients. Clinical Psychosomatic Diseases 22(4). 100 hospitalized patients with atrial fibrillation. After health education warfarin self-care knowledge, awareness of warfarin consent rate significantly higher (P <0.05), atrial fibrillation anticoagulation managem]e0000nt scale awareness significantly higher (P <0.01), medication compliance, monitoring of international normalized ratio compliance, international normalized ratio compliance rate all significantly better than the control group (P <0.01). Bleeding complications and embolic events were significantly less than the control group (P <0.05 or 0.01). doi：10.3969/j.issn.1672-187X.2016.04.056-0161-03 (Chinese)

Yuyunhyeong (2015) A Research on the Effects of Solution-focused Group Art Therapy on Improvement of Sibling Relationship and Well-being. South Korea Art Psychotherapy Association Article XIV:29.11(1):147-176. www.earticle.net/article.aspx?sn=244197 6 siblings: 10 sess Group Art therapy. Positive effects on sibling relationship, Gentleness, Conflict, Relative status, Competition and the well-being of sibling children. (Korean)

Ziffer JM, Crawford E, Penney-Wietor J (2007) The Boomerang Bunch: A School-Based Multifamily Group Approach for Students and Their Families Recovering from Parental Separation and Divorce. The Journal for Specialists in Group Work 32:154-164. School counsellors: 5 parents; 8 sess. Groups for parents, older + younger children. All improved at 6 mon follow-up interview. (StrongToGoOn@aol.com)

Dr Alasdair Macdonald, freelance trainer, UK
macdonald@solutionsdoc.co.uk