Attributions of Problem Cause and Solution in Therapy
The relation between attributions of responsibility for problem cause and attributions of responsibility for solution (Brickman, Rabinowitz, Karuza, Coates, Cohn, & Kidder, 1982) with early evaluation of psychotherapy in three university counseling centers was investigated. Participants were 24 therapy dyads involved in short term therapy. The Causal Dimension Scale II (McAuley, Duncan, & Russell, 1992) was adapted to assess attributions of causes and solutions following the first and third sessions. Early therapy evaluation was assessed by change from first to third session in Target Complaint (Battle, Imber, Hoehn-Saric, Stone, Nash, & Frank, 1966) from clients' perspective and Global Assessment of Functioning (American Psychiatric Association, 1994) from therapists' perspective. Regression analyses were performed to assess relation of change in cause and solution attributions with early therapy evaluation. The results indicate that there are different patterns in cause and solution attributions with respect to early therapy evaluation. Change in cause attributions was not related to early evaluation. Change in solution attributions accounted for a significant amount of variance in early therapy evaluation from both client (p < .01) and therapist ( p < .05) perspectives. Internalization of locus and control of solutions was significantly related to an increase in client-rated improvement and, contrary to the hypothesis, a decrease in therapists' view of clients' global functioning. There was no significant relation between attributions at intake and termination status. Results support the distinction between attributions for causes and for solutions and provide some evidence of the importance of internalization of locus and control of solution in clients' view of their improvement early in psychotherapy. Implications for practice and research are discussed.
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign