A prediction of initial appointment attendance and initial outcome expectations.
Clients' outcome expectations have been found to play an important role in psychotherapy. Although expectations likely exist before the start of treatment, little is known about how early expectations are developed and the role they play in initial appointment attendance. Adult clients (n = 57) from two psychology department training clinics completed measures of outcome expectations, generalized hope, and distress at the time of referral (after the initial phone conversation). As a set, these variables, along with previous therapy experience and length of wait until the initial appointment, successfully predicted appointment status for 88.7% of the sample. Attendance was more likely when the duration of wait was shorter (OR = 1.58, p < .01) and for those with previous therapy experience (OR = 9.89, p < .05). Initial outcome expectations were significantly correlated with general levels of hope (r = .59, p < .01) and negatively correlated with severity of distress (r = -.48, p < .01). Based on these results, clinical recommendations for increasing the likelihood of attendance and for enhancing expectations are made.
Department of Psychology, University of Alaska Anchorage, 3211 Providence Drive SSB214, Anchorage, AK 99508, USA. joshua.keith.swift@gmail.com
Joshua K
JK
Swift
Jason L
JL
Whipple
Patricia
P
Sandberg
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015205:Northwestern United States; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult