A Measure of the Parent-Team Alliance in Youth Residential Psychiatry: The Revised Short Working Alliance Inventory.
BACKGROUND
The therapeutic alliance between multidisciplinary teams and parents within youth (semi) residential psychiatry is essential for the treatment process and forms a promising process variable for Routine Outcome Monitoring (ROM). No short evaluative instrument, however, is currently available to assess parent-team alliance.


OBJECTIVE
In this study, the Working Alliance Inventory-Short Version (WAV-12), a widely used alliance questionnaire, was adjusted to assess parent-team alliance from both a parent and team perspective within a youth residential setting. Psychometric properties, including factor structure and validity of the subscales, were explored.


METHODS
A sample of youth with mainly complex developmental disorders admitted to 11 inpatient and day patient units of a child and adolescent psychiatric institute participated in this study. The case manager involved with the youth and the primary caregiver of 87 youth completed the revised WAV-12 (WAV-12R).


RESULTS
The team version of the WAV-12R showed a good fit to the original conceptualized model, and distinguished Bond, Task and Goal scales. For the parents' version an adjusted model with Insight, Bond and combined Task/Goal scales had the best fit. The reliability and validity of the scales were shown to be good.


CONCLUSIONS
This paper presents preliminary evidence that the parent and treatment team versions of the WAV-12R are psychometrically sound for assessing parent-team alliance within youth (semi) residential psychiatry in the Netherlands. The team and parents' versions of the WAV-12R are recommended instruments to complement outcome measures in ROM.
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Curium-Leiden University Medical Center, Endegeesterstraatweg 27, 2342 AK Oegstgeest, The Netherlands.
Audri
A
Lamers
Praktikon, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Marc J M H
MJ
Delsing
Department of Psychology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX USA.
Brigit M
BM
van Widenfelt
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Curium-Leiden University Medical Center, Endegeesterstraatweg 27, 2342 AK Oegstgeest, The Netherlands.
Robert R J M
RR
Vermeiren
Caregivers; Psychometrics; Residential care; Therapeutic alliance; Youth psychiatry