The Therapeutic Alliance in Randomized Controlled Clinical Trials

The therapeutic alliance, familiar to those who treat patients and conduct clinical trials, is considered by many to be a non-specific effect in research studies. The concept of the therapeutic alliance has its roots in the doctor-patient relationship and has been discussed extensively in the context of psychodynamic psychotherapy. Research has demonstrated that the strength of the alliance is a strong predictor of outcome in psychotherapy and has emphasized its importance in ensuring compliance in pharmacotherapy. However, little empirical research has been conducted which examines the impact of the therapeutic alliance on patient compliance and retention in randomized controlled clinical trials. Moreover, tension and debate exist between those who see the therapeutic alliance as both a necessary and positive component of a clinical trial and those who view it as a confounding variable. Those who view it as a confounding variable argue that this alliance may serve to influence patients' participation and make difficult the assessment of treatment effects. We report our observations from one study of adults with schizophrenia who were enrolled in a clinical trial of a new antipsychotic medication. We hypothesize that there is an association between the strength of the therapeutic alliance and subsequent compliance and retention of patients enrolled in clinical drug trials. The relationship among these constructs could be tested empirically as could the association between the therapeutic alliance and the assessment of clinical response.