Client satisfaction and social desirability in psychotherapy

Abstract

In this study, the authors examined whether reports of client satisfaction in psychotherapy are biased by client tendency to provide socially desirable answers. This question was explored in the context of dynamic, eclectic, and cognitive/behavioral modalities of psychotherapy, which were provided in private practice settings. The Client Satisfaction Questionnaire-8 (CSQ-8) was employed to assess satisfaction, and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MCSD) was used to measure social desirability. The relation of CSQ-8 scores was also examined with respect to sociodemographic variables, symptomatology, and treatment characteristics. A very weak correlation between CSQ-8 and MCSD scores was obtained (r(146) = −.05, p > .05), which was not found to be significant. This association also was not found to be moderated by client's and therapist's gender, therapy modality, or treatment length. These results could be only partially explained by the restricted variance associated with CSQ-8 scores. It thus appears that client satisfaction represents a legitimate outcome dimension of psychotherapy.