Will the Intervention Benefit My Client? Helping Social Workers to Answer the Question Using Indicators of Clinically Meaningful Change

Abstract

Social workers strive to provide the best support to each client, making it crucial to consider not just group-level effects of interventions but also individual outcomes. While empirical evidence often stems from group-based analyses, these offer limited insights into individual change, which is key for tailoring interventions. The aim of this study is to highlight the importance of individual-level analyses, an underexplored area in social work, using four indicators of “clinically meaningful change” (CMC). We compare these analyses with group-level analyses using a dataset of 146 Swedish families undergoing Functional Family Therapy (FFT), an intervention with strong empirical support. While group-level analyses confirmed FFT’s general effectiveness in reducing adolescent psychosocial symptoms, individual-level analyses revealed a more nuanced picture, showing variations in outcomes—positive, negative, and neutral. The study thus demonstrates the value of CMC indicators for generating individual-level information that social workers can harness to find optimal solutions for their individual clients.