Short form of the revised Vanderbilt therapeutic alliance scale: development, reliability, and validity

Psychother Res. 2008 Jul;18(4):433-43. doi: 10.1080/10503300701810801.

Abstract

This study presents the development and psychometric properties of a five-item version of the revised Vanderbilt Therapeutic Alliance Scale (VTAS-R Short Form). A total of 255 alliance ratings, derived from therapy sessions from 86 cases of family therapy for substance-abusing adolescents, were used to generate two separate subsamples. The first subsample was used to develop the five-item form and the second subsample to estimate the measure's reliability and concurrent and predictive validity. The VTAS-R Short Form evidenced high internal consistency, was highly correlated with the full-length VTAS-R, and predicted treatment completion and adolescents' days of cannabis use at 3 months follow-up. The findings suggest that the VTAS-R Short Form is a reliable and valid alternative to the full-length form.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Validation Study

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Child
  • Family Therapy / methods*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Prospective Studies
  • Psychometrics
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Substance-Related Disorders / therapy*
  • Surveys and Questionnaires*