Secure Attachment to Therapist, Alliance, and Outcome in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy With Young Adults
(2015) In Journal of Counseling Psychology 62(1). p.1-13- Abstract
- Using a novel approach to assess attachment to therapist from patient narratives (Patient Attachment to Therapist Rating Scale; PAT-RS), we investigated the relationships between secure attachment to therapist, patient-rated alliance, and outcome in a sample of 70 young adults treated with psychoanalytic psychotherapy. A series of linear mixed-effects models, controlling for length of therapy and therapist effects, indicated that secure attachment to therapist at termination was associated with improvement in symptoms, global functioning, and interpersonal problems. After controlling for the alliance, these relationships were maintained in terms of symptoms and global functioning. Further, for the follow-up period, we found a suppression... (More)
- Using a novel approach to assess attachment to therapist from patient narratives (Patient Attachment to Therapist Rating Scale; PAT-RS), we investigated the relationships between secure attachment to therapist, patient-rated alliance, and outcome in a sample of 70 young adults treated with psychoanalytic psychotherapy. A series of linear mixed-effects models, controlling for length of therapy and therapist effects, indicated that secure attachment to therapist at termination was associated with improvement in symptoms, global functioning, and interpersonal problems. After controlling for the alliance, these relationships were maintained in terms of symptoms and global functioning. Further, for the follow-up period, we found a suppression effect indicating that secure attachment to therapist predicted continued improvement in global functioning, whereas the alliance predicted deterioration when both variables were modeled together. Although limited by the correlational design, this study suggests that the development of a secure attachment to therapist is associated with treatment gains as well as predictive of posttreatment improvement in functioning. Future research should investigate the temporal development of attachment to therapist and its interaction with alliance and outcome more closely. To ensure differentiation from patient-rated alliance, observer-based measurement of attachment to therapist should be considered. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/5070021
- author
- Lilliengren, Peter ; Falkenstrom, Fredrik ; Sandell, Rolf LU ; Mothander, Pia Risholm and Werbart, Andrzej
- organization
- publishing date
- 2015
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- attachment to therapist, therapeutic alliance, outcome, psychoanalytic, psychotherapy, young adults
- in
- Journal of Counseling Psychology
- volume
- 62
- issue
- 1
- pages
- 1 - 13
- publisher
- American Psychological Association (APA)
- external identifiers
-
- wos:000348049200001
- scopus:84925779803
- pmid:25222907
- ISSN
- 0022-0167
- DOI
- 10.1037/cou0000044
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 0ada2a7c-5077-495c-b764-56cb01a47f9a (old id 5070021)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 13:04:25
- date last changed
- 2022-04-21 19:34:27
@article{0ada2a7c-5077-495c-b764-56cb01a47f9a,
abstract = {{Using a novel approach to assess attachment to therapist from patient narratives (Patient Attachment to Therapist Rating Scale; PAT-RS), we investigated the relationships between secure attachment to therapist, patient-rated alliance, and outcome in a sample of 70 young adults treated with psychoanalytic psychotherapy. A series of linear mixed-effects models, controlling for length of therapy and therapist effects, indicated that secure attachment to therapist at termination was associated with improvement in symptoms, global functioning, and interpersonal problems. After controlling for the alliance, these relationships were maintained in terms of symptoms and global functioning. Further, for the follow-up period, we found a suppression effect indicating that secure attachment to therapist predicted continued improvement in global functioning, whereas the alliance predicted deterioration when both variables were modeled together. Although limited by the correlational design, this study suggests that the development of a secure attachment to therapist is associated with treatment gains as well as predictive of posttreatment improvement in functioning. Future research should investigate the temporal development of attachment to therapist and its interaction with alliance and outcome more closely. To ensure differentiation from patient-rated alliance, observer-based measurement of attachment to therapist should be considered.}},
author = {{Lilliengren, Peter and Falkenstrom, Fredrik and Sandell, Rolf and Mothander, Pia Risholm and Werbart, Andrzej}},
issn = {{0022-0167}},
keywords = {{attachment to therapist; therapeutic alliance; outcome; psychoanalytic; psychotherapy; young adults}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{1}},
pages = {{1--13}},
publisher = {{American Psychological Association (APA)}},
series = {{Journal of Counseling Psychology}},
title = {{Secure Attachment to Therapist, Alliance, and Outcome in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy With Young Adults}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/cou0000044}},
doi = {{10.1037/cou0000044}},
volume = {{62}},
year = {{2015}},
}