Predicting client attrition from psychotherapy through behavioral assessment procedures and a critical response approach

Abstract

Adults who requested outpatient psychotherapy completed a pretreatment questionnaire after admission and a posttreatment questionnaire immediately after the first therapy session. Questionnaire items concerned the client's situation at the time of the request for treatment (e.g., distance travelled to the clinic), past behavior in fulfilling commitments, self-prediction of session attendance, and reaction to the initial interview. Five items were related significantly to continuation in two separate S samples. A critical response scale comprised of 14 items and responses proved highly predictive of the number of treatment sessions attended in both initial (N = 78) and cross-validational groups (N = 91).