Preventing Dropout in Research, Assessment and Treatment with Refugees - a guideline

This guideline aims to inform and sensitize clinical researchers and therapists about dropout in general as well as specifically in the treatment of refugees and asylum seekers. We first describe the challenging situation, refugees resettled in high-income countries are facing and give a brief overview of the current evidence on the effectiveness of psychological and psychosocial interventions for this group. The definition of dropout and different operationalization methods are discussed and an overview of the reported prevalence rates of dropout from psychological treatments is given. Further, an overview of the empirical evidence regarding predictors and reasons for dropout is provided. The reduction of dropout is a major challenge in both clinical practice and clinical research. Therefore, effective measures to reduce the occurrence of premature termination of treatment are discussed and recommendations are given.