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Objectives: The therapeutic alliance (TA) has been shown to be a predictor of psychotherapy treatment success. In the case of psychotherapy with children, there is a dearth of information on TA's role. The aims of the paper are: (1) To estimate the therapist effects on children TA; (2) to investigate if therapists' TA predicts children's TA; (3) to analyze if children's age and sex predict children's TA; (4) to evaluate if the therapist's characteristics predict children's TA., Methods: The sample consisted of 77 children undergoing psychotherapy in Argentina, and the therapists (N = 29) providing services to those children. The assessment tools utilized for the study included the Therapy Alliance Scale for Children and the Personal Style of the Therapist Questionnaire (PST-Q)., Results: Findings indicated that 2% of the children's TA was explained by the therapists (ICC = 0.02), while 17% of the therapists' TA was explained by the therapists (ICC = 0.17). Therapists' TA predicted children's TA. Children's age and sex did not have an effect on their own TA. Moreover, therapists with more experience achieved higher scores of children's TA. Finally, the Operative dimension of the PST had a negative effect on children's TA (i.e., therapists who prefer more spontaneous interventions over structured ones may experience higher levels of therapeutic alliance with child patients)., Conclusion: We found a positive effect of the therapist's TA on children's TA, especially in the preference for using more spontaneous intervention techniques. We discuss the implications of the findings on the training of psychotherapists who provide services to children., (© 2023 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Aim: The therapeutic alliance is a robust predictor of treatment outcome. However, little is known about the way alliance negotiation contributes to psychotherapy outcome. The aim of the present study was to analyze the effects of alliance negotiation on treatment outcome in the first four sessions of psychotherapy., Methods: Ninety-six patients diagnosed with emotional disorders received weekly Solution-Focused Brief Therapy. Each patient completed both the Alliance Negotiation Scale (ANS) and the Outcome Questionnaire 45 (OQ.45) after each of the first four sessions. Both between- and within-patients effects of alliance negotiation on symptom severity were analyzed using Hierarchical Linear Models., Results: Results showed significant between and within patient effects of alliance negotiation on symptom severity. Patients with higher levels of alliance negotiation across treatment showed lower levels of symptom severity (between-patient effect). Also, in a session with higher alliance negotiation compared to the average session of this patient, symptom severity was lower than in the average session (within-patient effect)., Discussion: The results indicate that therapies characterized by higher alliance negotiation and sessions with higher alliance negotiation are beneficial for early outcome., Conclusion: From a clinical point of view, the results suggest that alliance negotiation is a meaningful factor for therapy outcome and that therapists may benefit from training and monitoring alliance negotiation during the early stages of treatment., (© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Clinical Psychology published by Wiley Periodicals Inc.)

Objective: This study analyses the psychometric properties of the Working Alliance Inventory adapted for guided Internet interventions (WAI-I)., Methods: We drew on the data set from a multicenter trial that examined a guided Internet intervention (deprexis) for patients with mild to moderate depression. Two hundred twenty-three patients completed the WAI-I and the Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire (ZUF-8) at posttreatment, and the Attitudes toward Psychological Online-Interventions Questionnaire (APOI) at baseline. We ran confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) testing two- and three-factor solutions and calculated Cronbach's α, item-total correlations, and correlations of the WAI-I with APOI and ZUF-8., Results: The results suggested a two-factor solution, with a very good model fit and evidence of factor independency, adequate internal consistency, and external validity for the complete scale and the sub-scales., Conclusions: The WAI-I showed as a reliable and valid instrument to capture alliance in guided Internet interventions, which might facilitate process-outcome research and treatment development efforts., (© 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)