Abstract
Attention control groups play an important but controversial role in randomized controlled trials of behavioral interventions. The study by Pagoto et al. in this issue of Psychosomatic Medicine provides an informative example of some of the problems that attention control conditions can create in psychosomatic and behavioral medicine trials. This article discusses the reasons why these problems occur and provides some practical solutions. It also explains why controlling for attention is unnecessary and counterproductive in some behavioral trials.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 100-102 |
| Number of pages | 3 |
| Journal | Psychosomatic Medicine |
| Volume | 75 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 1 2013 |
Keywords
- clinical trials
- confounding factors
- control groups
- placebo effect
- placebos
- psychotherapy
- randomized controlled trials