Adolescent and parent alliances with therapists in Brief Strategic Family Therapy with drug-using Hispanic adolescents.
This study examined the relationship between alliance and retention in family therapy. Alliance was examined at the individual (parent, adolescent) and family level (within-family differences) for families that either dropped out or completed family therapy. Participants were 31 Hispanic adolescents and their family members who received brief strategic family therapy for the treatment of adolescent drug use. Videotapes of first sessions were rated to identify parent and adolescent alliances with the therapist. Results demonstrated that Completer cases had significantly higher levels of alliance across all family members than Dropout cases, and Dropout cases had significantly higher unbalanced alliances than Completer cases. Clinical implications are discussed.
Robbins
Michael S
MS
University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida 33136, USA. mrobbins@med.miami.edu
Mayorga
Carla C
CC
Mitrani
Victoria B
VB
Szapocznik
José
J
Turner
Charles W
CW
Alexander
James F
JF
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D000328:Adult; D000739:Anecdotes as Topic; D005196:Family Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005431:Florida; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D011615:Psychotherapy, Group / Q000379:methods; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome