Strukturerade intervjuer inom missbruksvården - som en grund för kunskapsutveckling

Sammanfattning: Anderberg, Mats & Dahlberg, Mikael (2009). Strukturerade intervjuer inom missbruksvården – som en grund för kunskapsutveckling (Structured interviews in substance abuse treatment - as a foundation for the development of knowledge). In the discussion on knowledge development in social work, structured interviews have attracted an increasing amount of attention. The aim of this thesis is to examine and analyze how structured interviews can serve as a basis in the compilation and development of knowledge for practice and research in addiction treatment. More precisely, it means a problematization of the methodological issues that are of central importance in studying treatment outcomes, in which structured interviews form the basis. The methodological aspects in focus here are scientific concepts such as reliability, validity and specific factors in the evaluation of treatment interventions. A further objective is to outline a model for analysis when compiling and evaluating treatment outcome.The five empirical studies have been conducted in their natural context, in organisations in which structured interviews with clients are carried out as an everyday routine and used for e.g. treatment planning. The structured interview DOK (a Swedish abbreviation for Documentation of clients) is used as a basis and an example for the empirical studies in this thesis.The validation studies show that the DOK interview generally attains a good level of reliability and validity, but also contains a small number of variables that do not live up to the requirements which may be imposed. Deficiencies in operationalization and question construction seem to have a large impact. Another conclusion is that it is possible to carry out validation studies, where each variable is examined separately and evaluated with the aid of both sound methodological starting points and relevant statistical theory. Another of the central questions, the thesis addresses, is how structured interviews can be used as a basis for evaluation of treatment. The two studies which highlight this issue show that it is obvious that structured interviews are suitable for such a purpose, through its standardized form and multi-dimensional nature.Validation of structured interviews or evaluation of social interventions should not be reduced to single numbers or values. The multidimensional nature of the structured interview shall also be reflected in the results and analysis. The thesis presents an analysis model for evaluating treatment outcome in relation to two empirical examples and foregoing theoretical starting points. Our view is that structured interviews can provide a link between practice and research and thus contribute to the development of knowledge in social work and substance abuse treatment.