Gender, Race/Ethnicity, and Patient-Therapist Matching on Gender and Race/Ethnicity: Predictors/Moderators of the Effectiveness of Trust/Respect Feedback.

A plethora of studies has exhibited the effectiveness of using measurement-based care feedback systems within mental health services to improve treatment outcomes; however, patient gender/race and patient-therapist matching on gender and race remain relatively unexplored as predictors/moderators in feedback studies. We conducted predictor/moderator analyses focusing on the relation of gender, race/ethnicity, and patient-therapist gender and race/ethnicity matching on two outcomes: patient self-reported levels of (1) functioning and (2) trust/respect within the therapeutic relationship. We used data from a randomized controlled trial studying the effectiveness of a feedback system comparing patient-reported levels of trust and respect towards their provider (together with symptom feedback) in comparison to symptom only feedback.

Randomized controlled trial evaluating feedback to community-based therapists based on patient reports of trust and respect.

Objective: Patient trust/respect toward their therapists may be an important component of patient-therapist relationships. This randomized controlled trial evaluated the impact of providing weekly feedback to therapists regarding patient ratings of trust/respect toward their therapist.

Method: Adult patients seeking mental health treatment at four community clinics (two community mental health centers and two community-based intensive treatment programs) were randomized to either having their primary therapist receive weekly symptom feedback-only or symptoms plus trust/respect feedback.

Initial Development of Pragmatic Behavioral Activation Fidelity Assessments.

Purpose: Our goal was to develop brief pragmatic assessments of Behavioral Activation (BA) fidelity to support its dissemination in low-resource settings.

Methods: We used qualitative and quantitative methods across three investigations to develop pragmatic assessments rated from the perspective of therapists, patients, and observers: (1) we developed an initial comprehensive pool of 119 items and adapted/refined the item pool to 32 items through stakeholder focus groups and cognitive interviews; (2) independent blind judges rated each of items in the refined item pool on an early session of BA for 64 patients to support the selection of items based on predictive validity; and (3) we conducted a preliminary evaluation of the acceptability and feasibility of the assessments of BA fidelity from the perspective of therapists and patients.

Results: The internal consistency reliability for the 10-item total score was .

A Feasibility Study of Behavioral Activation for Major Depressive Disorder in a Community Mental Health Setting.

Behavioral activation (BA) is a well-supported treatment approach, but little research has been conducted on the effectiveness of this treatment within publicly funded community mental health settings. We examined the feasibility of conducting a randomized trial examining the effectiveness of nine sessions of BA as a treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD) in a community mental health clinic (CMHC) setting. Following adaptation of a BA manual and training of BA therapists, 80 patients seeking treatment at a CMHC were randomized, with a 3:1 randomization rate of BA to nine sessions of treatment as usual (TAU).