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Afonseca, M., Sousa, D., Vaz, A., Santos, J. M. & Batista, A. (2023). Psychotherapist’s persuasiveness in anxiety: Scale development and relation to the working alliance. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration. 33 (2), 169-184

M. Afonseca et al.,  "Psychotherapist’s persuasiveness in anxiety: Scale development and relation to the working alliance", in Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, vol. 33, no. 2, pp. 169-184, 2023

@article{afonseca2023_1716007996830,
	author = "Afonseca, M. and Sousa, D. and Vaz, A. and Santos, J. M. and Batista, A.",
	title = "Psychotherapist’s persuasiveness in anxiety: Scale development and relation to the working alliance",
	journal = "Journal of Psychotherapy Integration",
	year = "2023",
	volume = "33",
	number = "2",
	doi = "10.1037/int0000288",
	pages = "169-184",
	url = "http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/int0000288"
}

TY  - JOUR
TI  - Psychotherapist’s persuasiveness in anxiety: Scale development and relation to the working alliance
T2  - Journal of Psychotherapy Integration
VL  - 33
IS  - 2
AU  - Afonseca, M.
AU  - Sousa, D.
AU  - Vaz, A.
AU  - Santos, J. M.
AU  - Batista, A.
PY  - 2023
SP  - 169-184
SN  - 1053-0479
DO  - 10.1037/int0000288
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/int0000288
AB  - Communicating a persuasive rationale that explains the client’s problems and how
psychotherapy can relieve them, has been proposed as a crucial determinant of outcomes that
combats the client’s state of distress, promotes positive expectations, and facilitates the
working alliance. However, it remains 1 of the least investigated psychotherapist’s facilitative
interpersonal skills without a validated measure. The present correlational observational study
aimed to develop a rating scale that measures the psychotherapist’s persuasiveness, and to
examine its relationship with the working alliance. Based on a literature review of the
psychotherapist’s persuasiveness, the Therapist’s Persuasiveness Rating Scale (TPRS) was
constructed. Seventeen psychotherapy session recordings were used to validate the scale
through exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, validity, reliability, and sensitivity
assessment. Fourteen psychotherapy session recordings with clients suffering from anxiety
were rated using the TPRS and the Working Alliance Inventory-Observer Version-Short Form
(WAI-O-S) to examine the relationship between the 2 variables. The validation process
resulted in a 4-factor 10 items scale. Except for the discriminant validity, which was revealed
to be inadequate, the TPRS showed to be a valid, reliable, and sensitive measure of the
psychotherapist’s persuasiveness. Despite a nonsignificant correlation found in Spearman’s
correlation, a linear regression model suggested that the psychotherapist’s persuasiveness
explains 65.1% of the working alliance at the beginning of the session. The TPRS revealed a
promising measure with good psychometric qualities to advance the research on the
psychotherapist’s persuasiveness. There is some suggestion of the psychotherapist’s
persuasiveness effect on the working alliance, but the result missed statistical significance.
ER  -