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The Revised Helping Alliance Questionnaire (HAq-II) : Psychometric Properties
L Luborsky1, J P Barber, L Siqueland
1Center for Psychotherapy Research, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; and Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The Journal of Psychotherapy Practice and Research
|June 16, 2012
Summary
The revised Helping Alliance questionnaire (HAq-II) reliably measures therapeutic alliance in cocaine-dependent patients. This validated tool shows strong consistency and correlation with other alliance measures.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Psychiatry
- Clinical Psychology
Background:
- The therapeutic alliance is crucial in psychotherapy.
- Early self-report measures like the Helping Alliance questionnaire (HAq-I) have been refined.
- A revised version, HAq-II, was developed to exclude improvement-focused items.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the psychometric properties of the revised 19-item Helping Alliance questionnaire II (HAq-II).
- To assess the reliability and validity of the HAq-II in patients with cocaine dependence.
Main Methods:
- The HAq-II was administered to 246 patients diagnosed with DSM-III-R cocaine dependence.
- Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were assessed.
- Convergent validity was examined using the California Psychotherapy Alliance Scale (CALPAS).
Main Results:
- The HAq-II demonstrated excellent internal consistency and test-retest reliability.
- The HAq-II showed good convergent validity with the CALPAS total score.
- Early alliance levels did not correlate with pretreatment psychiatric severity or depression.
Conclusions:
- The HAq-II is a reliable and valid measure for assessing the therapeutic alliance in cocaine dependence.
- The findings support the use of HAq-II in clinical and research settings.
- Therapeutic alliance measurement is robust and independent of initial patient severity.
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