Editorial perspective: Bayesian statistical methods are useful for researchers in child and adolescent mental health

Erling W Rognli; Rune Zahl-Olsen; Sondre Sverd Rekdal; Asle Hoffart; Thomas Bjerregaard Bertelsen

doi:10.1111/jcpp.13662

Editorial perspective: Bayesian statistical methods are useful for researchers in child and adolescent mental health

J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2023 Feb;64(2):339-342. doi: 10.1111/jcpp.13662. Epub 2022 Jul 11.

Authors

Erling W Rognli¹, Rune Zahl-Olsen², Sondre Sverd Rekdal², Asle Hoffart^{3

4}, Thomas Bjerregaard Bertelsen^{2

5}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, Akershus University Hospital, Lørenskog, Norway.
² Department of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Sørlandet Hospital, Kristiansand, Norway.
³ Research Institute of Modum Bad Psychiatric Hospital, Vikersund, Norway.
⁴ Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
⁵ Department of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.

Abstract

Bayesian statistical approaches offer nuanced, detailed, and intuitive analyses, even with small sample sizes. Although these qualities are highly relevant for researchers in child and adolescent mental health, Bayesian methods are still quite rarely employed. This editorial perspective will briefly describe what is different about Bayesian statistical methods, discuss some of the ways they may benefit research in our field, and provide an introduction to how Bayesian statistics are employed in practical research.

Publication types

Editorial

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Bayes Theorem
Child
Humans
Mental Health*
Research Personnel*