E-mail: silje.hukkelberg@nubu.no
Phone: 92 86 85 53
Aboutthestudy
MATCH (Modular Approach to Therapy for Youths with Anxiety, Depression, Trauma and Conduct Problems) is a method for treating anxiety, depression, trauma-related difficulties and behavioural problems in children and adolescents.
NUBU has evaluated whether MATCH provides better outcomes in children than usual practice in seven selected child and adolescent psychiatric outpatient clinics (BUP).
Research questions have been:
How well does MATCH work compared to standard practice in BUP?
What evidence-based components did the therapists use in MATCH and in usual practice in BUP?
Why MATCH?
Anxiety, depression, trauma-related difficulties and behavioural problems are some of the most common reasons why children and young people are referred to mental health care in Norway. Comorbid conditions in this age group occur frequently, and sometimes children meet criteria for multiple types of mental disorders at admission or during the treatment period.
MATCH is an evidence-based (EBT) and modular method consisting of documented components for the treatment of anxiety, depression, trauma-related difficulties and behavioural problems.
The therapeutic toolbox consists of 35 evidence-based treatment components, some of which are common to multiple problem areas (e.g., psychoeducation or emotion regulation), whilst others are targeted at a specific problem area (e.g., the anxiety ladder or effective messages).
The various components can be combined across diagnoses. As MATCH offers this flexibility, the integration of treatment for multiple problem areas into a single approach allows it to be tailored and adapted to each child’s needs. MATCH is therefore particularly useful for treating complex problems in children and adolescents.
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Background
Several studies suggest that MATCH works better than standard therapeutic practices. MATCH has been evaluated in the United States, among other places, and several studies have shown that MATCH produces positive results.
In a 2012 American study, MATCH was compared with usual care and other standardised evidence-based interventions. MATCH performed better than both conditions, with moderate to significant effects. The study also showed that the children who received MATCH had a faster improvement curve and fewer diagnoses at the end of treatment compared to the children who received standard treatment.
It is not certain that a treatment that is effective in the USA will be equally effective in Norway, for Norwegian children and parents. Therefore, we have evaluated MATCH in seven different BUP offices in Norway.
In the MATCH study, researchers have investigated whether MATCH is more effective than standard practice in BUP and can thus serve as an alternative to already established forms of treatment.
Method
A total of 121 Norwegian children and adolescents aged 6 to 14 years participated in the study. They were randomly assigned to either MATCH or usual care in BUP. The families were recruited from seven clinics across various health regions in Norway.
Clinicians who practised MATCH received six days of training, as well as weekly consultation from experienced American MATCH consultants.
Information was obtained from the children, their therapists and parents before, during and after treatment. Video was also used to investigate whether the therapists in both groups used EBT components in the treatment.
Findings
At the end of therapy, the results showed a significant reduction in internalising and externalising difficulties in children and adolescents, but no intervention effects were observed. This means that standard practice in BUP was as good as MATCH.
One year after treatment was completed, the effects were the same for internalising difficulties, but symptoms were further reduced for externalising difficulties. The average treatment time was comparable for the two groups, but longer than in other studies.
Observational data showed that therapists in both MATCH and in BUP used EBT components. Although therapists in the MATCH group used EBT components approximately 75% of the time in therapy sessions, the corresponding proportion in usual practice was 54%, which may indicate that training in MATCH increased therapists’ use of EBT.
The results differ from several studies from the United States but are consistent with a similar study from New Zealand. A possible explanation for the lack of differences between the groups is that therapists in Norwegian BUP offices already use a significant proportion of EBT components in their practice.
Publications
Hukkelberg, S. S., Torsheim, T., Nordahl, K. B., Bringedal, G. E., Rajah, S., Hagen, K. A., ... & Weisz, J. (2024). The modular approach to therapy for youths with anxiety, depression, trauma, and conduct problems (MATCH): results from the Norwegian randomized-controlled trial. BMC psychology, 12(1), 569. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-024-02082-0 (…)
Contact
For enquiries regarding the processing of personal data, please contact personvern@nubu.no
