Implementation of Problem-Solving Treatment in Community Health Centers (PST-Aid)

Usability will be evaluated with clinician report on the 10-item Implementation Strategy Usability Scale (ISUS), which is based closely on the well-validated System Usability Scale. Ratings are on a 1 to 5 scale and yield a total score from 0 to 100. Half the items are reverse scored; higher total scores reflect greater usability. The ISUS has good inter-item consistency (a = .83) and sensitivity. Research has also demonstrated that the original version of the ISUS (the SUS) functions similarly-and yields similar scores-for adults and youth as young as 11 years.

Clinicians will complete the Participant Responsiveness Scale (PRS), an adapted version of the 12-item Patient Responsiveness Scale tailored to be developmentally appropriate for children aged 8 and above as well as adults. The PRS measures two factors, Participation and Enthusiasm. The original Patient Responsiveness Scale has demonstrated strong reliability (a = .86) and construct validity.

Clinicians will complete the Intervention Appropriateness Measure (IAM) is a rigorously developed, pragmatic instrument with strong good internal consistency (a = .87) and test-retest reliability (a = .87).

Adoption is operationalized as whether or not the clinician completes at least 1 PST session with 3 or more cases at any point during study participation.

Reach will be calculated as the percentage of clinicians caseloads of patients with a depressive disorder receiving PST.

The Patient Health Questionnaire is one of the most used short depression measures. The PHQ features 9 items on a four-point scale (0=not at all, 1=several days, 2=more than half the days, 3=nearly every day), with cutpoints for 5, 10, 15, and 20 representing mild, moderate, moderately severe, and severe levels of depressive symptoms. Four original validation studies were conducted on nearly 10,000 patients, and there have been multiple meta-analyses. Scores have been found valid, with sensitivity of 88% and specificity of 88% for a cut point of 10 has been found for Major Depressive Disorders.

This measure will ask 3 items from the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire-16: Did treatment meet your needs? Are you satisfied with treatment services? Would you use the same treatment again if needed?

The Quality of Life in Neurological Disorders Satisfaction with Social Roles scale (Neuro-QOL) is a widely used 8-item measure of functioning in usual social roles, activities, and responsibilities. Factor analyses and Item Response Theory analyses have ensured broad information parameters without differential item functioning by demographics. Scale scores have been validated and normed on thousands of participants in the US general and clinical inpatient and outpatient settings, presenting with a variety of problem areas. Scores provide a T score with a mean of 50 and standard deviation of 10, aligned with a variety of norming samples. An example item stem is: In the past 7 days I am able to do all of my regular family activities. Response options are on a scale of 1 to 5 (1=never, 2-rarely, 3=sometimes, 4=often, 5=always).

Fidelity will be measured using the PST Adherence and Competency Scale (PST Fidelity Scale). The PST Fidelity Scale includes seven items assessing the seven key problem-solving steps rated on a 5 point scale (0=very poor, 5=very good), an average score of 3 or greater indicates a satisfactory performance.Internal consistency is good, with Cronbach alpha ranging from .83 to .89. A Principal Components Analysis found all factors loaded on a common factor accounting for 76.6% of the variance.Interrater reliability has been found to be high (r=.822-.918), with 86% of two-rater comparisons within one point of each other. Initial fidelity will be defined as the hours of training until fidelity-based certification is reached, measured by trainer PST Fidelity Scale ratings of session recordings or mock interviews.

Sustained fidelity will be rated via observer coding of recordings of one randomly selected session (or mock interview) per client using the PST Fidelity Scale (i.e., fidelity tool)

This measure will document reactive adaptations to the use of the PST-Aid implementation strategy and the unadapted PST implementation strategy. Based on randomization, clinicians will be provided the set of implementation strategies (e.g., Aid vs. the unadapted PST implementation strategy), and this measure will document what they will be able to do with the goal of understanding some of the natural refinements and adaptations to the implementation strategy. The Framework for Modifications and Adaptations of Evidence-based interventions (FRAME), the leading method for evaluating the nature of intervention adaptations will be used.

Using observations of audio recorded sessions, coders will complete the PST Adherence Scale, a seven-item measure scored on a 0 to 5 scale (0=very poor, 5=very good). Six items assess fidelity to technical skills and completing the six specific problem-solving stages. Cronbach alpha coefficients range from .83 to .89. Average item-level interrater agreement is 86%. A seventh item provides a global rating of overall clinician performance, accounting for patient and problem complexity.

A cost checklist will be built for (1) trainers, (2) trainees, and (3) clinics. Participants will estimate the amount of time they spend on conducting PST-related training, meetings, treatment, and providing materials and other costs.

Clients will complete the PST Task Self Efficacy scale, which is based on guidelines for task-specific reliable and valid measures of Task Self Efficacy. Items are on a scale from 0-100 with the stem: Rate your degree of confidence in your ability to do the following. Items are keyed to the specific actions in PST such as defining a problem in their lives connected to depression, establishing realistic goals, and generating solutions. This approach to generating action-specific (task) self-efficacy measures has been successfully used by hundreds of research projects, and is theoretically more internally valid for a study than standardized general measures of self-efficacy.

Clients will complete the Behavioral Activation for Depression Scale, a 25-item measure on a scale from 0 (not at all) to 6 (completely), which tracks changes in behaviors that underlie depression in the following areas: activation, avoidance/rumination, work/school impairment, and social impairment.Total score and subscale internal consistencies range from .78 to .87. Construct validity has been established with correlations in expected directions with the Beck Depression Inventory, Beck Anxiety Inventory, and Interpersonal Events Schedule.

The General Anxiety Disorder-7 is a seven-item measure on a four-point scale (0=not at all, 1=several days, 2=more than half the days,3=nearly every day), with cutpoints for 5, 10, and15 representing mild, moderate, and severe levels of anxiety symptoms. Scores have been found valid, at the cutpoint of 10 sensitivity and specificity exceeds .80 for Generalized Anxiety Disorder diagnoses. Concurrent validity has been found with positive associations with the Beck Anxiety Inventory and other anxiety scales. Factor analyses have confirmed anxiety items from the GAD as a separate dimension from depression items on the PHQ.

The Top Problems Assessment (TPA) is an assessment in which clients are asked to list the problems they are most concerned about. Upon completion of the list, respondents are asked to assign a severity rating for each problem by answering the questions: how big of a problem is this for you? (0 = not at all to 10 =very, very much). Respondents are then asked to identify which of the problems listed is the biggest problem right now? Which one is the most important to work on? Then the second and third most important until 3 top problems are identified.The TPA is an unchanged version of the Youth Top Problems Assessment (YTPA), which shows excellent concurrence with standardized assessments (Kappa ranging from .78 to .91), while also adding specificity for treatment targets. While the TPA has not yet been validated using an adult sample, the wording is applicable to all age ranges and there is all rationale supports the appropriateness of its usage.