Examine the probability of negative effects during the treatment period. Adverse and unwanted events were, however, mentioned in an evaluation in the 1950’s regarding the Cambridge-Somerville Youth Study of delinquent adolescents, indicating that a larger proportion of those assigned to the intervention group actually were to commit more crimes than those allocated to the control group [17]. Likewise, Bergin [18] was able to provide evidence of patients deteriorating in seven different outcome studies, arguing that between five to ten percent consistently seem to deteriorate. Although obtaining critique for the difficulty of determining a causal relationship [19], that is, proving that the treatment interventions and not any other circumstances are responsible for the patients faring worse, the numbers have been confirmed in later reviews and across various treatment modalities and psychiatric disorders [20?2], suggesting that deterioration is to be expected and controlled for to reverse a negative treatment trend [23]. Deterioration is, however, far from the only negative effect that might occur during psychological treatments. Hadley and Strupp [24] were early to recognize a wide range of adverse and unwanted events, for instance, social stigma, dependency, and novel symptoms. Similarly, Mays and Franks [25], introducing the term negative outcome, argued that any type of significant decline in one or more areas of functioning during the treatment period should be regarded as negative, not just deterioration in symptomatology. Others have also implied that nonresponse, dropout, and interpersonal difficulties may be perceived as negative effects [26?28], although the prospect of establishing a cause-effect relationship is complex owing to the influence of other factors, most notably, the natural fluctuations in psychiatric disorders, the undesirable impact of everyday stressors, as well as what perspective is being used to judge whether or not a negative effect has occurred. Strupp and Hadley [29], for example, presented a tripartite model for assessing the positive as well as negative effects of psychological ForetinibMedChemExpress GSK089 treatments, suggesting that the outcome will depend on the eye of the beholder: the patient, the therapist, or society at large. A specific response occurring during the treatment period, for instance, increased anxiety in an exposure exercise, might be perceived as negative by the patient, but can be expected and perhaps even regarded as beneficial by the therapist providing the treatment. Thus, even though there are reasons to assume that other types of negativePLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0157503 June 22,2 /The Negative Effects Questionnaireeffects exist in psychological treatments, determining their occurrence is complicated and warrants both theoretical and methodological considerations. Different suggestions on how to monitor and report negative effects have, nonetheless, been put forward, and the need for more research has been emphasized [30?2]. Deterioration has, for instance, long been regarded as a relatively straightforward method for assessing the number of patients faring worse on a given outcome measure [33]. In addition, both therapist and patient administered measures have been AM152 manufacturer proposed. One early attempt was the Vanderbilt Negative Indicators Scale (VNIS), a comprehensive therapist rating system to determine the occurrence of various negative effects using tape-recorded sessions [34]. The VNIS distinguish.Examine the probability of negative effects during the treatment period. Adverse and unwanted events were, however, mentioned in an evaluation in the 1950’s regarding the Cambridge-Somerville Youth Study of delinquent adolescents, indicating that a larger proportion of those assigned to the intervention group actually were to commit more crimes than those allocated to the control group [17]. Likewise, Bergin [18] was able to provide evidence of patients deteriorating in seven different outcome studies, arguing that between five to ten percent consistently seem to deteriorate. Although obtaining critique for the difficulty of determining a causal relationship [19], that is, proving that the treatment interventions and not any other circumstances are responsible for the patients faring worse, the numbers have been confirmed in later reviews and across various treatment modalities and psychiatric disorders [20?2], suggesting that deterioration is to be expected and controlled for to reverse a negative treatment trend [23]. Deterioration is, however, far from the only negative effect that might occur during psychological treatments. Hadley and Strupp [24] were early to recognize a wide range of adverse and unwanted events, for instance, social stigma, dependency, and novel symptoms. Similarly, Mays and Franks [25], introducing the term negative outcome, argued that any type of significant decline in one or more areas of functioning during the treatment period should be regarded as negative, not just deterioration in symptomatology. Others have also implied that nonresponse, dropout, and interpersonal difficulties may be perceived as negative effects [26?28], although the prospect of establishing a cause-effect relationship is complex owing to the influence of other factors, most notably, the natural fluctuations in psychiatric disorders, the undesirable impact of everyday stressors, as well as what perspective is being used to judge whether or not a negative effect has occurred. Strupp and Hadley [29], for example, presented a tripartite model for assessing the positive as well as negative effects of psychological treatments, suggesting that the outcome will depend on the eye of the beholder: the patient, the therapist, or society at large. A specific response occurring during the treatment period, for instance, increased anxiety in an exposure exercise, might be perceived as negative by the patient, but can be expected and perhaps even regarded as beneficial by the therapist providing the treatment. Thus, even though there are reasons to assume that other types of negativePLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0157503 June 22,2 /The Negative Effects Questionnaireeffects exist in psychological treatments, determining their occurrence is complicated and warrants both theoretical and methodological considerations. Different suggestions on how to monitor and report negative effects have, nonetheless, been put forward, and the need for more research has been emphasized [30?2]. Deterioration has, for instance, long been regarded as a relatively straightforward method for assessing the number of patients faring worse on a given outcome measure [33]. In addition, both therapist and patient administered measures have been proposed. One early attempt was the Vanderbilt Negative Indicators Scale (VNIS), a comprehensive therapist rating system to determine the occurrence of various negative effects using tape-recorded sessions [34]. The VNIS distinguish.