Therapist's effect on children's therapeutic alliance: A naturalistic study.

Autor: Casari L; INCIHUSA, CONICET, Mendoza, Argentina.; Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias Económicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina, Mendoza, Argentina., Areas M; CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina.; Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina., Ison M; INCIHUSA, CONICET, Mendoza, Argentina., Gómez B; Fundación Aiglé, Buenos Aires, Argentina., Roussos A; IPEHCS, Universidad del Comahue/ CONICET, Bariloche, Argentina., Consoli A; University of California, Santa Barbara, California, USA., Gómez Penedo JM; CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina.; Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Journal of clinical psychology [J Clin Psychol] 2024 Jan; Vol. 80 (1), pp. 207-222. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Oct 14.
DOI: 10.1002/jclp.23606
Abstrakt: Objectives: The therapeutic alliance (TA) has been shown to be a predictor of psychotherapy treatment success. In the case of psychotherapy with children, there is a dearth of information on TA's role. The aims of the paper are: (1) To estimate the therapist effects on children TA; (2) to investigate if therapists' TA predicts children's TA; (3) to analyze if children's age and sex predict children's TA; (4) to evaluate if the therapist's characteristics predict children's TA.
Methods: The sample consisted of 77 children undergoing psychotherapy in Argentina, and the therapists (N = 29) providing services to those children. The assessment tools utilized for the study included the Therapy Alliance Scale for Children and the Personal Style of the Therapist Questionnaire (PST-Q).
Results: Findings indicated that 2% of the children's TA was explained by the therapists (ICC = 0.02), while 17% of the therapists' TA was explained by the therapists (ICC = 0.17). Therapists' TA predicted children's TA. Children's age and sex did not have an effect on their own TA. Moreover, therapists with more experience achieved higher scores of children's TA. Finally, the Operative dimension of the PST had a negative effect on children's TA (i.e., therapists who prefer more spontaneous interventions over structured ones may experience higher levels of therapeutic alliance with child patients).
Conclusion: We found a positive effect of the therapist's TA on children's TA, especially in the preference for using more spontaneous intervention techniques. We discuss the implications of the findings on the training of psychotherapists who provide services to children.
(© 2023 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
Externí odkaz: