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. 2020 Jul;27(4):559-566.
doi: 10.1002/cpp.2441. Epub 2020 Mar 10.

Why are some cases not on track? An item analysis of the Assessment for Signal Cases during inpatient psychotherapy

Thomas Probst  1 , Maria Kleinstäuber  2 , Michael J Lambert  3 , Karin Tritt  4 , Christoph Pieh  1 , Thomas H Loew  4 , Reiner W Dahlbender  5 , Jaime Delgadillo  6
Affiliations

Why are some cases not on track? An item analysis of the Assessment for Signal Cases during inpatient psychotherapy

Thomas Probst et al. Clin Psychol Psychother. 2020 Jul.

Abstract

Within the Routine Outcome Monitoring system "OQ-Analyst," the questionnaire "Assessment for Signal Cases" (ASC) supports therapists in detecting potential reasons for not-on-track trajectories. Factor analysis and a machine learning algorithm (LASSO with 10-fold cross-validation) were applied, and potential predictors of not-on-track classifications were tested using logistic multilevel modeling methods. The factor analysis revealed a shortened (30 items) version of the ASC with good internal consistency (α = 0.72-0.89) and excellent predictive value (area under the curve = 0.98; positive predictive value = 0.95; negative predictive value = 0.94). Item-level analyses showed that interpersonal problems captured by specific ASC items (not feeling able to speak about problems with family members; feeling rejected or betrayed) are the most important predictors of not-on-track trajectories. It should be considered that our results are based on analyses of ASC items only. Our findings need to be replicated in future studies including other potential predictors of not-on-track trajectories (e.g., changes in medication, specific therapeutic techniques, or treatment adherence), which were not measured this study.

Keywords: Assessment for Signal Cases; progress feedback; psychotherapy; routine outcome monitoring.

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Conflict of interest statement

Michael J. Lambert is part owner of OQ Measures, a company that owns and distributes the OQ‐Analyst software discussed in this article.

References

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