Psychological and pharmacological therapy: methods and modes for comparative outcome research.

Psychological and pharmacological comparative outcome studies are reviewed, typically using select examples of cognitive-behavioral interventions from among the psychological therapies and of depression from among the disorders. Special attention is given to methodological considerations such as selecting outcome measures, calibrating the quality of therapy, and investigating client and therapist characteristics and the therapeutic relationship. Discussion includes consideration of various modes of comparison (i.e., quickness of action, side effects, relapse, compliance, cost-effectiveness) that may be used in comparative outcome studies. A disorder-specific approach to comparative outcome research is seen as a necessary step in the progress toward an increasingly sophisticated discrimination of distinctive, complementary, and interactive therapeutic processes.