Psychology ETDs

Publication Date

2-1-2016

Abstract

Those engaged in the research and practice of MI have shown interest in treatment adherence as an indicator of effective MI and have expressed curiosity in the threshold at which MI practice could be viewed as good enough'. The most widely used and often cited of MI integrity measures are the Motivational Interviewing Skills Code (MISC) and the Motivational Interviewing Treatment Integrity code (MITI). These adherence tools share similar descriptive coding systems for therapist in-session behavior. MI fidelity standards are often used as reference points for therapist performance, yet practitioners rarely meet full criteria. Further, substandard ratings have been associated with positive client change. These findings have elicited questions about the necessary levels of therapist treatment adherence to promote client change and suggested the need for empirically-derived fidelity standards. This study analyzed existing data from a sample of Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET) sessions from Project MATCH (Matching Alcohol Treatments to Client Heterogeneity) that were audio recorded and previously coded with the MISC. MI adherence variables were analyzed along with client drinking outcomes to test the relationship between therapist fidelity and client change. Therapist adherence was determined using behavioral codes common to the MITI and MISC. Client change thresholds were determined using clinically significant change standards developed by Jacobson and Truax. The relationships between therapist adherence level and client change thresholds were examined using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis. Findings showed mixed support for the relationship between therapist adherence level and client drinking outcomes, but yielded levels of therapist MI adherence associated with client changes in drinking outcomes.

Degree Name

Psychology

Level of Degree

Doctoral

Department Name

Psychology

First Committee Member (Chair)

Moyers, Theresa

Second Committee Member

Feldstein Ewing, Sarah

Third Committee Member

Witkiewitz, Katie

Fourth Committee Member

Hettema, Jennifer

Language

English

Keywords

Motivational Interviewing, Treatment Adherence, Treatment Outcomes, Receiver Operating Characteristics, Therapist evaluation, Clinically Significant Change

Document Type

Dissertation

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