The broad goal of the proposed research is to examine child-therapist and caregiver-therapist alliance in families receiving community mental health services. Therapeutic alliance is an issue of paramount importance to clinicians and clients, and it is associated with outcomes in adult and child psychotherapy research. While over 2000 studies have examined the client-therapist alliance within the context of adult psychotherapy, very few studies have examined alliance within the context of child or family psychotherapy, and even fewer have investigated alliance in usual care child psychotherapy. Since little is known about the temporal stability of alliance or concordance of multiple perspectives on alliance, the proposed study will first address the complexities of measuring alliance across time and informants. Furthermore, this study will examine the association between alliance and therapeutic change in the child, caregiver, and family (i.e., whose alliance, according to whom, is most strongly associated with which outcomes). Finally, if significant alliance-outcome associations are found, therapist characteristics and behaviors associated with alliance will be explored. This last aim may generate hypotheses about therapist behaviors that could be changed to impact alliance;thus, it has significant implications for informing practice and improving care. The representative sample includes 219 children with disruptive behavior problems receiving usual care. Therapeutic alliance and various outcomes will be assessed throughout the course of psychotherapy, up to 16 months after initiating psychotherapy. In addition, coded videotapes of psychotherapy sessions will provide information about therapist behaviors that might impact therapeutic alliance strength. Coded videotapes also allow for an additional perspective (i.e., observer report) on child-therapist and caregiver/therapist alliance.

Public Health Relevance

The proposed study examines an issue of great clinical relevance and utility within the context of usual care child psychotherapy. It addresses several methodological questions that have not been well-studied in the child psychotherapy alliance literature, and it further contributes to current knowledge about alliance outcome associations. This research has the potential to help bridge the research-practice gap because of its strong ecological validity and attention to issues of great clinical relevance and utility. Better understanding of therapeutic alliance in community mental health services is valuable because it will ultimately inform improvements in care for children.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (F31)
Project #
5F31MH083399-03
Application #
7786956
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-HOP-T (29))
Program Officer
Otey, Emeline M
Project Start
2008-04-10
Project End
2012-04-09
Budget Start
2010-04-10
Budget End
2011-04-09
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
2010
Total Cost
$31,141
Indirect Cost
Name
University of California San Diego
Department
Psychiatry
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
804355790
City
La Jolla
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
92093
Accurso, Erin C; Garland, Ann F; Haine-Schlagel, Rachel et al. (2015) Factors contributing to reduced caregiver strain in a publicly-funded child mental health system. J Emot Behav Disord 23:131-143
Accurso, Erin C; Garland, Ann F (2015) Child, caregiver, and therapist perspectives on therapeutic alliance in usual care child psychotherapy. Psychol Assess 27:347-52
Accurso, Erin C; Norman, Gregory J; Crow, Scott J et al. (2014) The role of motivation in family-based guided self-help treatment for pediatric obesity. Child Obes 10:392-9
Garland, Ann F; Accurso, Erin C; Haine-Schlagel, Rachel et al. (2014) Searching for elements of evidence-based practices in children's usual care and examining their impact. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol 43:201-15
Accurso, Erin C; Hawley, Kristin M; Garland, Ann F (2013) Psychometric properties of the Therapeutic Alliance Scale for Caregivers and Parents. Psychol Assess 25:244-52
Garland, Ann F; Haine-Schlagel, Rachel; Accurso, Erin C et al. (2012) Exploring the effect of therapists' treatment practices on client attendance in community-based care for children. Psychol Serv 9:74-88
Accurso, Erin C; Taylor, Robin M; Garland, Ann F (2011) Evidence-based Practices Addressed in Community-based Children's Mental Health Clinical Supervision. Train Educ Prof Psychol 5:88-96
Garland, Ann F; Brookman-Frazee, Lauren; Hurlburt, Michael S et al. (2010) Mental health care for children with disruptive behavior problems: a view inside therapists' offices. Psychiatr Serv 61:788-95
Garland, Ann F; Hurlburt, Michael S; Brookman-Frazee, Lauren et al. (2010) Methodological challenges of characterizing usual care psychotherapeutic practice. Adm Policy Ment Health 37:208-20
Chavira, Denise A; Accurso, Erin C; Garland, Ann F et al. (2010) Suicidal Behaviour Among Youth in Five Public Sectors of Care. Child Adolesc Ment Health 15:44-51