The temporal relationships between therapist adherence and patient outcomes in dialectical behavior therapy.

This study evaluated the temporal relationships between therapist adherence to DBT and patient outcomes, as well as potential moderators of these relationships. Method: Data were from six clinical trials conducted in research and community settings with a variety of patient populations. In these trials, trained observers rated 83 therapists for adherence during 1,262 DBT individual therapy sessions with 288 patients. Patient outcomes included suicide attempts, nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI), treatment dropout, psychiatric hospitalizations, and global functioning. Longitudinal mixed-effects models evaluated the time-ordered, bidirectional relationships between adherence and outcomes. Results: Higher therapist adherence significantly predicted fewer subsequent suicide attempts (p = .002, η = 0.32) and a lower risk of dropout (p = .002, η = 0.33), and the latter relationship was strongest among patients with comorbid opioid dependence. Higher therapist adherence predicted fewer subsequent hospitalizations among community therapists (p = .001, η = 0.35) and patients that were not exclusively suicidal/self-injuring (p
Source: Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research