Making an if-then plan may help people with mental health problems reach goals

The review

1. 01

   Who took part

   1,636 people took part in 28 studies. They included children with ADHD, students who scored high on anxiety measures, and adults with schizophrenia, depression or brain injury.

2. 02

   What they did

   Each study had people make if-then plans for a goal, such as going to an appointment. These people were compared with people who only set goals, got no extra instructions, or had other treatment.

3. 03

   What happened

   After one extreme result was left out, making if-then plans helped people reach their goals by a large amount. The gain was similar for different types of goal, and for published and unpublished studies. A check for missing studies showed an uneven pattern, which the authors put down to a few large results from small studies.

What the review found

1. Helped

   Making an if-then plan helped people reach their goals more than the other groups did.

   • Action: Make an if-then plan for your obstacletested

   Pooled analysis of 28 studies with 1,636 people · vs people who only set goals, or had other treatment · ⚠ signs that small negative studies went unpublished; mixes trials with other kinds of study

2. No difference

   For getting started on things like appointments or exercise, if-then plans made no clear difference.

   • Action: Make an if-then plan for your obstacletested

   Pooled analysis of 9 studies with 810 people · vs people who only set goals, or had other treatment · ⚠ mixes trials with other kinds of study

3. Helped

   For goals about thinking skills, such as attention, if-then plans helped people reach them more than others did.

   • Action: Make an if-then plan for your obstacletested

   Pooled analysis of 17 studies with 606 people · vs people who only set goals, or had other treatment · ⚠ results look too good to be true; mixes trials with other kinds of study

Source