The development of instruments to detect indicators of behavioural changes in therapeutic communities: A clinical case study.

Clinicians involving in the treatment of adolescent patients should use a valid and efficientpsychological assessment. The evaluation of the efficiencyin clinical interventions mayprovide helpful information in terms of cost-effectiveness and may contribute to increasethe quality and efficacy of the public services. Despite the importance of clinical andtherapeutic interventions, we may observe several aspectslimiting the chance in usingthem. For example, the neuropsychiatry context due to heterogeneous users (such aschildren and adolescents) makes the replicability of clinical trials difficult in terms of results.Thus, efficient clinical programs and interventions—potentially able to identify specific andlong-term effects—need to be defined. In clinical contexts (i.e., therapeutic communities)should be a priority both to manage aspects of emergency/urgency we may observe inadolescents, and to focus on those aspects placed on a timingdimension. The currentstudy reports a description of innovative measures developed specifically for assessingadolescent patients and for tracking psychological features and behavioral changes.Furthermore, a clinical case is examined by using a multimethod assessment includingsuch innovative measures. Clinical implications are discussed. The development andsharing of “assessment cultures” among professionals should represent a priority inimproving the effectiveness of therapeutic communities.