Relationship to CBT outcome and dropout of decision support tools of the written case formulation, list of treatment goals and plot of symptom scores.

Many patients who receive cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) for mood and anxiety disorders fail to respond or drop out of treatment. We tested the hypotheses that therapist use of each of three decision support tools, a written case formulation, a list of treatment goals, and a plot of symptom scores, was associated with improved outcome and reduced dropout in naturalistic CBT provided to 845 patients in a private practice setting. We conducted regression analyses to test the hypotheses that the presence of each tool in the clinical record was associated with lower end-of-treatment scores on the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Burns Anxiety Inventory (BurnsAI), and lower rates of premature and uncollaborative dropout.