Therapist effects on dropout from a college counseling center practice research network.
Dropout has been a pervasive and costly problem in psychotherapy, particularly for college counseling centers. The present study examined potential predictors of dropout using a large data set (N = 10,147 clients, 481 therapists) that was gathered through a college counseling center practice research network as a replication and extension of recent findings regarding therapist effects on dropout. The final model resulted in a dropout rate of 15.9% and a therapist effect of 9.51% on dropout variance. Therapist demographic variables were investigated, though none were found to be significant. Variables found to be predictive of increased likelihood of dropping out included higher levels of general presenting concerns, alcohol-related distress, and current financial stress. Ultimately, this study showed that therapists may play an important role in the likelihood of client dropout, and that additional research should be conducted to identify additional predictors, particularly at the therapist and center level. (PsycINFO Database Record
Department of Psychology, Pennsylvania State University.
Henry
H
Xiao
Department of Psychology, Pennsylvania State University.
Louis G
LG
Castonguay
Department of Psychology, Pennsylvania State University.
Rebecca A
RA
Janis
Department of Psychology, Pennsylvania State University.
Soo Jeong
0000-0002-7528-5042
SJ
Youn
Department of Educational Psychology, Counseling, and Special Education, Pennsylvania State University.
Jeffrey A
JA
Hayes
Department of Psychological Services, Pennsylvania State University.
Benjamin D
BD
Locke
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003376:Counseling / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010352:Patient Dropouts / Q000523:psychology*; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult