efficacy

(noun)

Ability to produce a desired amount of a desired effect.

Related Terms

Examples of efficacy in the following topics:

  • Body-Oriented Psychotherapies

    • Research across eight different schools of body-oriented therapies suggests overall efficacy in symptom reduction, though more research is needed.
    • The review of outcome research across different types of body-oriented psychotherapy concludes that the best evidence supports efficacy for treating somatoform/psychosomatic disorders and schizophrenia.
    • Many of the claims regarding the efficacy of body-oriented therapies are considered controversial due to lack of research.

  • Introduction to Biomedical Therapies

    • Two ways in which biological therapies are studied are through efficacy research and effectiveness studies.
    • Placebo-controlled randomized clinical trials, using strict exclusionary criteria when selecting subjects, have traditionally been used to study a psychiatric medication's efficacy (i.e., the ability of the medication to treat the condition better than placebo under controlled conditions).
    • Effectiveness studies are complementary to understanding drug efficacy.

  • Psychosurgery

    • Psychosurgery has a low rate of efficacy relative to the risks of the procedures.
    • The reason for the decline of psychosurgery was not only related to ethical concerns and the low rates of efficacy; it was also related to the advancement of more effective and minimally invasive treatments such as psychiatric medications.
    • Discuss the goals, techniques, and efficacy of various types of psychosurgery

  • Maintaining Motivation

    • Rogers, suggests that we protect ourselves based on four factors: (1) the perceived severity of a threatening event, (2) the perceived probability of the occurrence or vulnerability, (3) the efficacy of the recommended preventive behavior, and (4) the perceived self-efficacy.
    • Self-efficacy, the final factor in PMT, is the belief in one's ability to carry out the recommended course of action successfully.
    • A social support system provides encouragement and self-efficacy, helps maintain a positive outlook, and allows an individual to talk about and find ways to deal with the stressor.

  • Temporal Motivation Theory

    • Expectancy, or self-efficacy, is the likelihood of success; value is the reward associated with the outcome; impulsiveness is the individual's ability to withstand urges; and delay is the amount of time until the realization of the outcome (i.e., the deadline).
    • Suppose the student really doesn't understand the material and doesn't feel confident that he will be able to grasp it in time for the exam (low self-efficacy, or expectancy).

  • Electroconvulsive Therapy

    • It has different levels of efficacy depending on the disorder it is called on to treat.
    • There is a lack of clinical evidence for its efficacy but it has been used successfully in the treatment of this disorder.
    • Discuss the goals, techniques, and efficacy of electroconvulsive therapy for various psychological disorders

  • Psychodynamic and Psychoanalytic Therapy

    • Meta-analyses in 2012 and 2013 found evidence for the efficacy of psychoanalytic therapy; other meta-analyses published in recent years showed psychoanalysis and psychodynamic therapy to be effective, with outcomes comparable to or greater than other kinds of psychotherapy or antidepressant drugs.
    • Numerous studies have suggested that its efficacy is related to the quality of the therapist, rather than the particular school, technique, or training.

  • Research Methods for Evaluating Treatment Efficacy

    • RCTs are often used to test the efficacy or effectiveness of various types of medical intervention and may provide information about adverse effects, such as drug reactions.

  • Other Approaches to Therapy

    • Studies have demonstrated the efficacy of art therapy, as applied to clients with memory loss due to Alzheimer’s and other diseases, stroke residuals, traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, dealing with chronic illness, and aging.
    • Discuss the goals, techniques, and efficacy of expressive and systemic therapies

  • Criticisms of the Social-Cognitive Pespective on Personality

    • For example, researchers currently cannot find a connection between observational learning and self-efficacy within the social-cognitive perspective.