Development of the Internet-Delivered Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Undesirable Therapist Behaviours Scale (ICBT-UTBS)
Internet-delivered cognitive behaviour therapy (ICBT) is often provided with therapist assistance via asynchronous secure emails, but there is limited research on undesirable behaviours exhibited by therapists in their correspondence with patients. In this study, an ICBT-Undesirable Therapist Behavi...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2019-12-01
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| Series: | Internet Interventions |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214782919300272 |
| _version_ | 1818340024911921152 |
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| author | Heather D. Hadjistavropoulos Kirsten M. Gullickson Luke H. Schneider Blake F. Dear Nickolai Titov |
| author_facet | Heather D. Hadjistavropoulos Kirsten M. Gullickson Luke H. Schneider Blake F. Dear Nickolai Titov |
| author_sort | Heather D. Hadjistavropoulos |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Internet-delivered cognitive behaviour therapy (ICBT) is often provided with therapist assistance via asynchronous secure emails, but there is limited research on undesirable behaviours exhibited by therapists in their correspondence with patients. In this study, an ICBT-Undesirable Therapist Behaviour Scale (ICBT-UTBS) was developed and used to assess the nature, frequency, and correlates of undesirable therapist behaviours in routine practice. Thematic analysis was used to identify undesirable therapist behaviours in 720 emails sent to 91 randomly selected patients in the context of a previous clinical trial of transdiagnostic ICBT for depression and anxiety. The following undesirable behaviours were identified, albeit infrequently, in therapist emails: inadequate detail (6.4%), unaddressed content (4.0%), unsupportive tone (0.6%), missed correspondence (0.6%), inappropriate self-disclosure (0.6%), and unmanaged risk (0.3%). At least one undesirable behaviour was found in 10.7% of all emails coded. Moreover, 37.4% of patients received at least one email containing an undesirable therapist behaviour. Number of undesirable therapist behaviours was not correlated with patient engagement, working alliance, treatment satisfaction, or patient outcome variables. However, undesirable therapist behaviours were negatively correlated with patient gender and therapist characteristics (e.g., clinical setting, therapist profession). The results of the present study provide preliminary psychometric support for the ICBT-UTBS, a measure of ICBT treatment integrity. In the future, the ICBT-UTBS should be used in combination with the ICBT-Therapist Rating Scale (ICBT-TRS), a measure of desirable or recommended therapist behaviours, for training purposes and to monitor ICBT therapists in routine practice. Keywords: Undesirable therapist behaviours, Internet-delivered cognitive behaviour therapy, Therapist assistance, Treatment integrity, Scale development |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T15:36:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ee8177860a7449b4938fd1ea56ea9ff9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2214-7829 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T15:36:20Z |
| publishDate | 2019-12-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Internet Interventions |
| spelling | doaj.art-ee8177860a7449b4938fd1ea56ea9ff92022-12-21T23:40:01ZengElsevierInternet Interventions2214-78292019-12-0118Development of the Internet-Delivered Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Undesirable Therapist Behaviours Scale (ICBT-UTBS)Heather D. Hadjistavropoulos0Kirsten M. Gullickson1Luke H. Schneider2Blake F. Dear3Nickolai Titov4Department of Psychology, University of Regina, 3737 Wascana Parkway, Regina, SK S4S 0A2, Canada; Corresponding author.Department of Psychology, University of Regina, 3737 Wascana Parkway, Regina, SK S4S 0A2, CanadaDepartment of Psychology, University of Regina, 3737 Wascana Parkway, Regina, SK S4S 0A2, CanadaeCentreClinic, Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Balaclava Road, North Ryde, NSW, AustraliaMindSpot Clinic and eCentreClinic, Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Balaclava Road, North Ryde, NSW, AustraliaInternet-delivered cognitive behaviour therapy (ICBT) is often provided with therapist assistance via asynchronous secure emails, but there is limited research on undesirable behaviours exhibited by therapists in their correspondence with patients. In this study, an ICBT-Undesirable Therapist Behaviour Scale (ICBT-UTBS) was developed and used to assess the nature, frequency, and correlates of undesirable therapist behaviours in routine practice. Thematic analysis was used to identify undesirable therapist behaviours in 720 emails sent to 91 randomly selected patients in the context of a previous clinical trial of transdiagnostic ICBT for depression and anxiety. The following undesirable behaviours were identified, albeit infrequently, in therapist emails: inadequate detail (6.4%), unaddressed content (4.0%), unsupportive tone (0.6%), missed correspondence (0.6%), inappropriate self-disclosure (0.6%), and unmanaged risk (0.3%). At least one undesirable behaviour was found in 10.7% of all emails coded. Moreover, 37.4% of patients received at least one email containing an undesirable therapist behaviour. Number of undesirable therapist behaviours was not correlated with patient engagement, working alliance, treatment satisfaction, or patient outcome variables. However, undesirable therapist behaviours were negatively correlated with patient gender and therapist characteristics (e.g., clinical setting, therapist profession). The results of the present study provide preliminary psychometric support for the ICBT-UTBS, a measure of ICBT treatment integrity. In the future, the ICBT-UTBS should be used in combination with the ICBT-Therapist Rating Scale (ICBT-TRS), a measure of desirable or recommended therapist behaviours, for training purposes and to monitor ICBT therapists in routine practice. Keywords: Undesirable therapist behaviours, Internet-delivered cognitive behaviour therapy, Therapist assistance, Treatment integrity, Scale developmenthttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214782919300272 |
| spellingShingle | Heather D. Hadjistavropoulos Kirsten M. Gullickson Luke H. Schneider Blake F. Dear Nickolai Titov Development of the Internet-Delivered Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Undesirable Therapist Behaviours Scale (ICBT-UTBS) Internet Interventions |
| title | Development of the Internet-Delivered Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Undesirable Therapist Behaviours Scale (ICBT-UTBS) |
| title_full | Development of the Internet-Delivered Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Undesirable Therapist Behaviours Scale (ICBT-UTBS) |
| title_fullStr | Development of the Internet-Delivered Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Undesirable Therapist Behaviours Scale (ICBT-UTBS) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Development of the Internet-Delivered Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Undesirable Therapist Behaviours Scale (ICBT-UTBS) |
| title_short | Development of the Internet-Delivered Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Undesirable Therapist Behaviours Scale (ICBT-UTBS) |
| title_sort | development of the internet delivered cognitive behaviour therapy undesirable therapist behaviours scale icbt utbs |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214782919300272 |
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