Psychiatric interviewing techniques. III. Naturalistic study: eliciting feelings

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Clinical Psychology
• Child Psychiatry

Background:

• Effective initial interviews with parents are crucial for child psychiatric referrals.
• Understanding parent-child dynamics requires skilled clinical interviewing.
• Trainees require guidance on optimal techniques for parent interviews.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify interview techniques that facilitate emotional expression in parents during initial child psychiatric consultations.
• To analyze the relationship between trainee interview behaviors and parental emotional disclosure.

Main Methods:

• A naturalistic study of 36 video and audio-taped interviews.
• Interviews were conducted by 7 psychiatric trainees with parents of newly referred children.
• Analysis focused on trainee communication patterns and parental emotional expression.

Main Results:

• A low level of interviewer talk and fewer interruptions were associated with increased emotional expression.
• A higher rate of open-ended questions, direct requests for feelings, interpretations, and expressions of sympathy also facilitated disclosure.
• Varied techniques appeared effective in promoting parental emotional expression.

Conclusions:

• Specific, varied interview techniques can significantly enhance parental emotional expression in child psychiatric settings.
• These findings offer practical insights for training psychiatric trainees in effective diagnostic and therapeutic interviewing.
• Further research is needed to establish causal links between techniques and outcomes.