Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T10:51:44.709Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Therapy Contamination as a Measure of Therapist Treatment Adherence in a Trial of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy versus Befriending for Psychosis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 October 2013

Sarah Bendall*
Affiliation:
Orygen Youth Health Research Centre, andUniversity of Melbourne, Australia
Kelly Allott
Affiliation:
Orygen Youth Health Research Centre, andUniversity of Melbourne, Australia
Martina Jovev
Affiliation:
Orygen Youth Health Research Centre, andUniversity of Melbourne, Australia
Marie-Josee Marois
Affiliation:
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Quebec, Canada
Eoin J. Killackey
Affiliation:
Orygen Youth Health Research Centre, andUniversity of Melbourne, Australia
John F. Gleeson
Affiliation:
Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, Australia
Mario Alvarez-Jimenez
Affiliation:
Orygen Youth Health Research Centre, andUniversity of Melbourne, Australia
Patrick D. McGorry
Affiliation:
Orygen Youth Health Research Centre, andUniversity of Melbourne, Australia
Henry J. Jackson
Affiliation:
University of Melbourne, Australia
*
Reprint requests to Sarah Bendall, Orygen Youth Health Research Centre, Locked Bag 10, Parkville, Victoria, Australia3052. E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

Background: High quality randomized controlled trials (RCT) of psychotherapeutic interventions should ensure that the therapy being tested is what is actually delivered. However, contamination of one therapy into the other, a critical component of treatment adherence, is seldom measured in psychotherapy trials of psychosis. Aims: The aim of the study was to determine whether a purpose-designed measure, the ACE Treatment Integrity Measure (ATIM) could detect therapy contaminations within a controlled trial of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) versus Befriending for first-episode psychosis and to compare the ATIM to a more traditional adherence measure, the Cognitive Therapy Scale (CTS). Method: Therapy sessions were audio-recorded and at least one therapy session from 53 of the 62 participants in the RCT was rated by an independent rater using the CTS and ATIM. Results: Ninety-nine therapy sessions were rated. All Befriending sessions and all but three CBT sessions were correctly identified. The ATIM showed that 29 of the 99 (29%) sessions were contaminated by techniques from the other therapy. Within the CBT sessions, 19 of the 51 sessions (37%) were contaminated by one or more Befriending techniques. Of the Befriending sessions, 10 of 48 (21%) were contaminated by ACE techniques. The mean CTS score was higher in the CBT than the Befriending group. Conclusions: The ATIM was able to detect contaminations and revealed more meaningful, fine-grained analysis of what therapy techniques were being delivered and what contaminations occurred. The study highlights the benefit of employing purpose-designed measures that include contamination when assessing treatment adherence.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alvarez-Jimenez, M., Wade, D., Cotton, S., Gee, D., Pearce, T., Crisp, K., et al. (2008). Enhancing treatment fidelity in psychotherapy research: novel approach to measure the components of cognitive behavioural therapy for relapse prevention in first-episode psychosis. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 42, 10131020.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bendall, S., Jackson, H. J., Killackey, E., Allott, K., Johnson, T., Harrigan, S., et al. (2006). The credibility and acceptability of befriending as a control therapy in a randomized controlled trial of cognitive behaviour therapy for acute first episode psychosis. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 34, 277291.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bendall, S., Killackey, E., Jackson, H. and Gleeson, J. (2003). Befriending Manual. Melbourne: Orygen Youth Health Research Centre and Department of Psychology, University of Melbourne.Google Scholar
Bendall, S., Killackey, E., Marois, M.-J. and Jackson, H. (2005). ACE Manual (Active Cognitive Therapy for Early Psychosis). Melbourne: Orygen Youth Health Research Centre and Department of Psychology, University of Melbourne.Google Scholar
Boutron, I., Moher, D., Altman, D. G., Schulz, K. F. and Ravaud, P. (2008). Extending the CONSORT statement to randomized trials of nonpharmacologic treatment: explanation and elaboration. Annals of Internal Medicine, 148, 295309.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carroll, K. M., Nich, C., Sifry, R. L., Nuro, K. F., Frankforter, T. L., Ball, S. A., et al. (2000). A general system for evaluating therapist adherence and competence in psychotherapy research in the addictions. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 57, 225238.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hilsenroth, M. J., Blagys, M. D., Ackerman, S. J., Bonge, D. R. and Blais, M. A. (2005). Measuring psychodynamic-interpersonal and cognitive-behavioral techniques: development of the Comparative Psychotherapy Process Scale. Psychotherapy, 42, 340356.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jackson, H. J., McGorry, P. D., Killackey, E., Bendall, S., Allott, K., Dudgeon, P., et al. (2008). Acute-phase and 1-year follow-up results of a randomized controlled trial of CBT versus Befriending for first-episode psychosis: the ACE project. Psychological Medicine, 38, 725735.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jones, C., Cormac, I., Silveira da Mota Neto, J. I. and Campbell, C. (2004). Cognitive behaviour therapy for schizophrenia. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Issue 4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Milne, D., Wharton, S., James, I. and Turkington, D. (2006). Befriending versus CBT for schizophrenia: a convergent and divergent fidelity check. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 34, 2530.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pilling, S., Bebbington, P., Kuipers, E., Garety, P., Geddes, J., Orbach, G., et al. (2002). Psychological treatments in schizophrenia: I. meta-analysis of family intervention and cognitive behaviour therapy. Psychological Medicine, 32, 763782.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rollinson, R., Smith, B., Steel, C., Jolley, S., Onwumere, J., Garety, P. A., et al. (2008). Measuring adherence in CBT for psychosis: a psychometric analysis of an adherence scale. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 36, 163178.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Samarasekera, N., Kingdon, D., Siddle, R., O'Carroll, M., Scott, J. L., Sensky, T., et al. (2007). Befriending patients with medication-resistant schizophrenia: can psychotic symptoms predict treatment response? Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory Research and Practice, 80, 97106.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Segal, Z. V., Teasdale, J. D., Williams, J. M. and Gemar, M. C. (2002). The mindfulness-based cognitive therapy adherence scale: inter-rater reliability, adherence to protocol and treatment distinctiveness. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 9, 131138.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sensky, T., Turkington, D., Kingdon, D., Scott, J. L., Scott, J., Siddle, R., et al. (2000). A randomized controlled trial of cognitive-behavioral therapy for persistent symptoms in schizophrenia resistant to medication. Archives of General Psychiatry, 57, 165172.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shawyer, F., Farhall, J., Mackinnon, A., Trauer, T., Sims, E., Ratcliff, K., et al. (2012). A randomised controlled trial of acceptance-based cognitive behavioural therapy for command hallucinations in psychotic disorders. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 50, 110121.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Startup, M., Jackson, M. and Pearce, E. (2002). Assessing therapist adherence to cognitive-behaviour therapy for psychosis. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 30, 329339.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tarrier, N. and Wykes, T. (2004). Is there evidence that cognitive behaviour therapy is an effective treatment for schizophrenia? A cautious or cautionary tale? Behaviour Research and Therapy, 42, 13771401.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vallis, T. M., Shaw, B. F. and Dobson, K. S. (1986). The Cognitive Therapy Scale: psychometric properties. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 54, 381385.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Waltz, J., Addis, M. E., Koerner, K. and Jacobson, N. S. (1993). Testing the integrity of a psychotherapy protocol: assessment of adherence and competence. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 61, 620630.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wykes, T., Steel, C., Everitt, B. and Tarrier, N. (2008). Cognitive behavior therapy for schizophrenia: effect sizes, clinical models, and methodological rigor. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 34, 523537.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Young, J. E. and Beck, A. T. (1980). Cognitive Therapy Scale: rating manual. Philadelphia, PA: Unpublished Manuscript, University of Pennsylvania.Google Scholar
Zimmermann, G., Favrod, J., Trieu, V. H. and Pomini, V. (2005). The effect of cognitive behavioral treatment on the positive symptoms of schizophrenia spectrum disorders: a meta-analysis. Schizophrenia Research, 77, 19.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.