Abstract

Researchers and clinicians have long recognized that therapeutic relationships play a fundamental role in client symptom change during treatment. At the same time, it has been proposed that improvement in client symptoms is associated with improvement in therapeutic relationships. To date, very few studies have investigated this reciprocal relationship; even fewer have examined group therapeutic relationship factors. The present study is an archival analysis on Group Questionnaire (GQ) (i.e., positive bond, positive work, and negative relationship) and Outcome Questionnaire (OQ-45) data that aims to analyze the reciprocal relationship between group therapeutic relationships and client symptom change. More specifically, this study replicates and expands upon pioneer studies in this area (i.e., Tasca & Lampard, 2012; Tasca et al., 2016b; Obeid et al., 2018). Various analyses were used to address the proposed research questions (i.e., bivariate cross-lagged panel model (CLPM), latent growth curve model with structured residuals (LGC-SR), latent change score model with change-to-change coupling (LCS-CC), and three-level multilevel models). Results indicate weak evidence of a reciprocal relationship between group therapeutic relationships and client symptom change. Further, results indicate that therapeutic relationship quality is more dominant in predicting client symptoms change compared to the reciprocal. Evidence of this was found for each subscale of the GQ as it assessed various aspects of group therapeutic relationships (i.e., positive bond, positive work, negative relationship). These results highlight the importance of group therapeutic relationships in explaining outcome.

Degree

MS

College and Department

Family, Home, and Social Sciences; Psychology

Rights

https://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/

Date Submitted

2022-04-14

Document Type

Thesis

Handle

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/etd12683

Keywords

reciprocal relationship, Positive Bond, Positive Work, Negative Relationship, group, outcome, Group Questionnaire

Language

english

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