Adolescents' reactions to counseling interviews

Fifty subjects aged 12 to 16 were interviewed according to one of five counseling techniques: Modeling 1, Modeling 2, reflecting, probing, and a control condition; and were seen either individually or in a group. Interviews were 30 minutes for five sessions during which a theme was discussed. It was questioned whether low-intimate or medium-intimate themes would be more facilitative of self-expression. It was hypothesized and confirmed that subjects are stimulated to disclose though the modeling intervention and group conditions. However, the question was asked as to the adolescents' feelings and opinions during these interviews. At the end of the last session all subjects were given a questionnaire probing their reactions. The individual control subjects indicated a nonsignificant technique effect, and likewise disclosure was not facilitated during the interviews. Sixty-eight percent of the subjects seen individually preferred these conditions whereas 92 percent of the group participants were satisfied. The most interesting topic was of low-intimacy value. Statistical analyses of the subjects' quantity of self-expression by techniques, individual and group conditions, and themes corresponded to their reported reactions to these variables. Results were explained in terms of the importance of the interview conditions in meeting the adolescents' developmental needs.