title: A study of silent disengagement and distressing emotion in psychotherapy.
abstract: Fifty-two psychotherapy sessions were coded for silences that reflect processes of client disengagement (e.g., withdrawal, resistance). The study examined the presence of these silences and clients' reports of in-session emotion and symptom change. Results indicated that disengagement predicted poorer proximal and distal outcome as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory for Primary Care (BDI-PC) and poorer proximal outcome on the Symptom Checklist-5, but it was not significantly predictive of Outcome Questionnaire-45 scores. Interitem analyses revealed that disengagement had a significant proximal effect on depressive mood and negative self-evaluative items assessed by the BDI-PC, but across time these effects were sustained for the negative self-evaluative items only.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA. jvstringer@gmail.com
authors.forename: Jessica V
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Stringer
authors.forename: Heidi M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Levitt
authors.forename: Jeffrey S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Berman
authors.forename: Susan S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Mathews
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001143:Arousal; D003142:Communication; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D013811:Psychotherapeutic Processes; D011613:Psychotherapy; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult