title: Contextual assessment of couples therapy: the Clinical Discourse Q-Sets.
abstract: This article describes a method for creating highly contextual assessments of couples therapy interaction using concepts from Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). According to SFL, talk in interaction serves three primary functions: to mediate social relations, to negotiate representations of reality, and to organize and structure the event as coherent. These concepts are operationalized using observational q-methodology. The Clinical Discourse Q-Sets (CDQS) include three separate q-sets for use by trained observers in rating 12-min segments of couples therapy conversation. Each q-set captures one aspect of the communication process as defined by Systemic Functional theory. Good-to-high reliabilities for the q-set profiles over various (n = 16) couples therapy episodes were found. Preliminary evidence for the conceptual structure and clinical validity of the system was found.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal Justice, Valdosta State University, Valdosta, GA, USA. smkogan@valdosta.edu
authors.forename: Steven M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Kogan
authors.forename: Lynda H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Walters
authors.forename: Tracey
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Daniels
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008388:Marital Therapy / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards*; D008393:Marriage / Q000523:psychology*; D008960:Models, Psychological; D011340:Problem Solving; D011614:Psychotherapy, Brief / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012107:Research Design; D014481:United States