Working Alliance Inventory for Online Interventions-Short Form (WAI-TECH-SF): The Role of the Therapeutic Alliance between Patient and Online Program in Therapeutic Outcomes

Rocío Herrero, Dolores Vara Mª, Marta Miragall, Cristina Botella, Azucena García-Palacios, Heleen Riper, Annet Kleiboer and Rosa Mª Baños
Additional contact information
Rocío Herrero: Polibienestar Research Institute, University of Valencia, 46022 Valencia, Spain
Dolores Vara Mª: Polibienestar Research Institute, University of Valencia, 46022 Valencia, Spain
Marta Miragall: CIBERObn Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain
Cristina Botella: CIBERObn Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain
Azucena García-Palacios: CIBERObn Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain
Heleen Riper: Department of Clinical, Neuro and Developmental Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, 1081-BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Annet Kleiboer: Department of Clinical, Neuro and Developmental Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, 1081-BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Rosa Mª Baños: Polibienestar Research Institute, University of Valencia, 46022 Valencia, Spain

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 17, 1-16

Abstract: Background: Therapeutic alliance (TA) between the patient and therapist has been related to positive therapeutic outcomes. Because Internet-based interventions are increasingly being implemented, a tool is needed to measure the TA with Internet-based self-guided programs. The Working Alliance Inventory for online interventions (WAI-TECH-SF) was adapted based on the WAI Short Form (Hatcher & Gillaspy, 2006). The objectives of this study were: (1) to analyse the psychometric properties of the WAI-TECH-SF; (2) to explore the differences in the WAI-TECH-SF scores according to different categories of the sample; and (3) to analyse whether the WAI-TECH-SF can predict therapeutic outcomes and satisfaction with the treatment. Methods: 193 patients diagnosed with depression were included and received blended Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy. Measures of preferences, satisfaction, and credibility about the treatment, TA with the online program, depressive symptoms, and satisfaction with the treatment were administered. Results: An exploratory factor analysis revealed a one-dimensional structure with adequate internal consistency. Linear regression analyses showed that the WAI-TECH-SF predicted changes in depressive symptoms and satisfaction with the treatment. Conclusions: WAI-TECH-SF is a reliable questionnaire to assess the TA between the patient and the online program, which is associated with positive therapeutic outcomes and satisfaction with the treatment.

Keywords: therapeutic alliance; online interventions; therapeutic outcomes; satisfaction with the treatment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/17/6169/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/17/6169/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:17:p:6169-:d:403832

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().