Alliance-outcome relation and progress feedback: Secondary data analyses of a randomized clinical trial study in China

Abstract

Objective: This study examined the alliance-outcome relation and the possible moderation effect of receiving progress feedback on a sample of Chinese clients. Method: One hundred and fifty-nine clients recruited from a university counseling center in central China filled out the Session Rating Scale (SRS) and the Outcome Rating Scale (ORS) each session. Participants were randomly assigned to either the progress feedback group or non-feedback group. Therapists working with clients in the feedback group received their clients’ SRS and ORS scores weekly and were asked to plot their scores in a chart. The alliance-outcome and moderator effects were tested with disaggregated cross-lagged panel modeling of SRS and ORS. Results: The findings indicated a strong reciprocal relation between SRS and ORS, but the moderator effect due to feedback was not supported. Conclusion: Results affirm the cross-cultural stability of the session-by-session reciprocal effects of the alliance-outcome model in a Chinese sample. The issue of whether feedback moderates the within-person alliance-outcome relationship needs to be studied further.