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Measurement of transference interpretations.
K P Bøgwald1, P Høglend, O Sørbye
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Oslo, Norway. k.p.bogwald@psykiatri.uio.no
The Journal of Psychotherapy Practice and Research
|October 16, 1999
Summary
Researchers developed a cost-efficient scale to measure transference interpretations in brief dynamic psychotherapy. The scale reliably differentiated treatment groups, confirming its effectiveness in assessing therapeutic interventions.
Area of Science:
- Psychotherapy research
- Clinical psychology
- Mental health treatment outcome measurement
Background:
- Measuring specific therapeutic interventions, such as transference interpretations, is crucial for understanding treatment mechanisms in dynamic psychotherapy.
- Existing methods for quantifying therapist actions can be resource-intensive or lack detailed operationalization.
- Brief dynamic psychotherapy (BDP) is a widely used approach, necessitating precise tools to evaluate its core components.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce a novel, cost-efficient process rating scale for quantifying transference interpretations and related therapist interventions in BDP.
- To assess the theoretical and methodological considerations for operationalizing and measuring these specific psychotherapeutic actions.
- To evaluate the scale's interrater reliability and its ability to differentiate between treatment conditions with varying intended uses of transference analysis.
Main Methods:
- Development and application of a cost-efficient process rating scale.
- Interrater reliability assessment using three raters on 60 psychotherapy sessions.
- Comparison of intervention use between two manualized BDP groups with differing emphases on transference analysis.
Main Results:
- The developed scale demonstrated highly satisfactory interrater reliability.
- Significant differences were found in the use of transference interpretations and related interventions between the two treatment groups.
- No significant differences were observed in general therapeutic skill or supportive interventions, indicating treatment specificity.
Conclusions:
- The cost-efficient process rating scale effectively and reliably measures transference interpretations in BDP.
- The scale successfully differentiates between psychotherapeutic approaches with distinct theoretical underpinnings regarding transference.
- Findings support the fidelity of the manualized treatments and provide a valuable tool for process-outcome research in dynamic psychotherapy.