Findings from an evaluation of a model system for delivering mental health services to youth were reassessed to determine the robustness of key findings to the use of methodologies unavailable to the original analysts. These analyses address a key concern about earlier findings--that the quasi-experimental design involved the comparison of two…

Studied the analytic problems associated with a design in which one identifiable group is allocated to each treatment condition and members of these groups are measured to assess the intervention. Results from a simulation study underscore the analytic problems associated with these quasi-experimental or group-randomized designs. (SLD)

The following methods for selecting similar units in performance monitoring are compared: (1) cluster groupings; (2) index groups; and (3) benchmark groups. Advantages and drawbacks of each method are presented, with a discussion that demonstrates the statistical superiority of the benchmark grouping method. (SLD)

This study describes a method for incorporating external estimates of intraclass correlation to improve the precision for the analysis of an existing group-randomized trial. The authors use a random-effects meta-analytic approach to pool the information across studies, which takes into account any interstudy heterogeneity that may exist. This…

Using data from the Youth Risk Behavioral Survey of more than 11,600 adolescents, risks for a general-risk group, reporting behavior indirectly linked to the disease, and a high-risk group reporting more risky behaviors, are estimated. Results highlight the weaknesses of behavioral-risk studies and the questionable nature of risk groups. (SLD)