title: Structural analysis of social behavior as a common metric for programmatic psychopathology and psychotherapy research.
abstract: This article describes the use of Structural Analysis of Social Behavior (SASB; L. Benjamin, 1974) as applied to programmatic psychodynamic-interpersonal psychotherapy research. SASB fosters cumulative, theory-driven research by permitting problem-treatment-outcome (PTO) congruence--the conceptualization and measurement of patients' problems, treatment processes, and outcome in a common metric. In this explanation of the principle of PTO congruence, the following are discussed: a general model of interpersonal psychopathology and etiology, SASB-based assessment devices for measuring early history and formulating presenting problems, empirical studies of interpersonal process in therapy, the relationship between manual-guided training and interpersonal process, and the assessment of outcome. A generic interpersonal model of psychotherapy is proposed that theoretically links all of these elements. Finally, the use of these SASB-based models for cross-theory integrative research from a common-factors approach is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City 84112, USA.
authors.forename: W P
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Henry
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D011613:Psychotherapy; D012106:Research; D012919:Social Behavior