Cited by 233Psychotherapy Techniques and ApplicationsMental Health Research TopicsAdvanced Causal Inference Techniques

Beyond linear mediation: Toward a dynamic network approach to study treatment processes

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Hofmann, Stefan G., Curtiss, Joshua E., Hayes, Steven C.·2020·Clinical Psychology Review

Abstract

Few clinical scientists would disagree that more research is needed on the underlying mechanisms and processes of change in psychological therapies. In the dominant current approach, processes of change are studied through mediation. The study of mediation has been largely structured around a distinction between moderation and mediation first popularized by Baron and Kenny's (1986) seminal article, which is based on a nomothetic and cross-sectional framework. In this article, we argue that this approach is unable to adequately address change processes in psychological therapies, because it falsely assumes that treatment change is a linear, unidirectional, pauci-variate process and that the statistical assumptions are met to study processes of change in an individual using a nomothetic approach. In contrast, we propose that treatment is a dynamic process involving numerous variables that may form bi-directional and complex relationships that differ between individuals. Such relationships can best be studied using an individual dynamic network approach connected to nomothetic generalization methods that are based on a firm idiographic foundation. We argue that our proposal is available, viable, and can readily be integrated into existing research strategies. We further argue that adopting an individual dynamic network approach combined with experimental analyses will accelerate the study of treatment change processes, which is necessary as the field of evidence-based care moves toward a process-based model. We encourage future research to gather empirical evidence to examine this approach.

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Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. Hayes SC & Hofmann SG (Eds.) (2018). Process-based CBT: The science and core clinical competencies of cognitive behavioral therapy. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications ISBN-13: 978–1626255968.
  2. Hayes SC, Hofmann SG, & Ciarrochi J (in press). Creating an alternative to syndromal diagnosis: Needed features of processes of change and the models that organize them. Chapter to appear in Hofmann SG & Hayes SC (Eds.), Beyond the DSM: Toward a process-based alternative for diagnosis and mental health treatment. Oakland, CA: Context Press / New Harbinger Publications.
  3. Sobel ME (1982). Asymptotic confidence intervals for the indirect effects in structural equations models In Leinhart S (Ed.), Sociological methodology (pp. 290– 321). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

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Authors
Hofmann, S. G., Curtiss, J. E., & Hayes, S. C.
Affiliations
  • Boston University (US)
  • University of Nevada, Reno (US)
Corresponding author
Hofmann, Stefan G.
Venue
Clinical Psychology Review
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2020-03
Volume
76
Pages
101824
ISSN
0272-7358 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W3000381339
Cited by
232
References
110
Citations by year
2026: 25 · 2025: 37 · 2024: 52 · 2023: 31 · 2022: 35 · 2021: 34 · 2020: 18
FWCI
2.32
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Clinical Psychology Review (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
National Institute of Mental Health
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Mental Health Research Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Statistics and Probability › Advanced Causal Inference Techniques
Keywords
treatment process, psychotherapy, mediation analysis, moderation, dynamic network model, individual differences, idiographic approach, mechanistic model, evidence-based care, mechanisms of change
MeSH terms
Humans, Psychotherapy

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