Measures of the Therapeutic Relationship in Severe Psychotic Illness: A Comparison of Two Scales

Abstract

A durable therapeutic relationship is central to mental health practice. The Working Alliance Inventory (WAI) and the Helping Alliance Questionnaire (HAQ) are established instruments for measuring such a relationship. The project aimed to test the correlation between the two scales for patients with severe psychotic illness treated in an Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) team. Ninety-one patients of an ACT team and their key-workers were recruited to complete the measures. Seventy-one patients (78%) completed the scales, and key-workers completed scales for every eligible patient. Both groups rated the relationship positively. There was a strong and significant correlation between the patient version of the WAI and the HAQ. There were significant but much weaker correlations between the patient-rated WAI and HAQ and the key-worker WAI. The patient version of the WAI and the HAQ seem to measure the patient's view of the relationship equivalently. The HAQ is simpler and easier to administer than the WAI.