title: The effects of working alliance and client-clinician ethnic match on recovery status.
abstract: Sixty-seven clients with severe and persistent mental illnesses (SPMI) recruited from community mental health centers were interviewed to assess their subjective quality of life, self-efficacy, importance of ethnic matching and level of working alliance (WA) with their clinicians. Results revealed that clients in the ethnically matched group reported significantly higher WA compared to the non-matched group. Clients who reported a higher level of WA also reported better recovery status. Results suggest that, in a multicultural community, ethnic matching may help augment WA and address potential barriers to treatment engagement, and identifying strategies to promote WA may enhance treatment effectiveness in programs for SPMI.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI 96822-2294, USA. joycecha@hawaii.edu
authors.forename: Puihan J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Chao
authors.forename: John J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Steffen
authors.forename: Elaine M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Heiby
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003156:Community Mental Health Services; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000208:ethnology*; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D011788:Quality of Life; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D055815:Young Adult