Abstract

Objective: Changes in trauma-related beliefs and therapeutic alliance have been found to temporally precede symptom reduction; however, it is likely these processes do not act in isolation but rather in interactive ways. Methods: The present study examined the temporal relationships between negative posttraumatic cognitions (PTCI) and therapeutic alliance (WAI) in 142 patients who were part of a randomized trial comparing prolonged exposure (PE) to sertraline for chronic PTSD. Results: Using time-lagged mixed regression models, improvements in the therapeutic alliance predicted subsequent improvements in trauma-related beliefs (d = 0.59), an effect accounted for by between-patient variability (d = 0.64) compared to within-patient variability (d = .04) giving weaker support to the causal role of alliance on outcome. Belief change did not predict improvements in alliance and neither model was moderated by treatment type. Conclusion: Findings suggest alliance may not be an independent driver of cognition change and point to the need for additional study of the impact of patient characteristics on treatment processes.

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.