Therapist ratings as predictors of therapy attendance

Rated 200 clients who were attending a community mental health center outpatient clinic immediately after the initial therapy session. Therapist ratings consisted of a 21-item scale that included descriptions of client behavior during the session and estimates of client duration of stay. In a sample comprised of the first 100 clients, a variety of items from the scale and client demographic variables were related significantly to subsequent attendance. A multiple regression equation derived from these data generated statistically significant predictions with regard to stay in the second sample of 100 clients.