The Behavioral Target Complaints Form: A Nonreactive Measure of Psychotherapeutic Outcome

Burton, Catherine A.; Nichols, Michael P.

doi:10.2466/pr0.1978.42.1.219

Cited by 1 publication

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“…Methodologically, the question of measurement confounding due to multiple reassessments during psychotherapy was tested in addition to Burton and Nichols’s (1978) assessments, which were done only at the beginning and conclusion of treatment. No differences in subjects were found when comparing simple pre- and postmeasurements with multiple reassessments.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The current study had as an ancillary consideration a possible methodological problem. Burton and Nichols (1978) warned that if defining target symptoms itself is therapeutic, "then studies of therapy with goal-setting as an outcome measure are in fact evaluating treatment plus goal-setting rather than just treatment" (p. 221). These authors found, however, that administering target complaints at the first and last sessions (Weeks 1 and 7 in their study) did not influence outcome assessment compared with a no-target-complaints control group.…”

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Moving targets: Patients' changing complaints during psychotherapy.

Sorenson

Gorsuch²,

Mintz³

1985

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

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Previous psychotherapy research typically assessed patients' target complaints before or shortly after the first therapy hour and then reassessed for change and improvement at termination on the same original problems. Authors of even the earliest articles, however, conceptualized target complaints as presenting problems that undergo a process of constant redefinition throughout the course of psychotherapy. Using a standardized assessment procedure recommended by Mintz (1977), the present study therefore followed 44 patients in time-limited marital or family therapy at a university outpatient clinic and offered them the opportunity to list new target complaints at subsequent assessment points in addition to the initial session. More than half of the patients (56%) reported new problems, and when these arose, they were significantly correlated with outcomes. Implications for comparative-competitive psychotherapy studies, as well as process and outcome research are offered in conclusion.In the first sentence of their seminal article, Battle et al. (1966) identified target complaints as "presenting" complaints (p. 184). They argued that "the process of constant definition, redefinition, and clarification proceeds throughout a course of psychotherapy" and that "the initial complaints may shift in focus and scope, or disappear altogether and be replaced by others which may go through the same process" (p. 185).Subsequent research using target complaints, however, has rarely incorporated the possibility that target complaints may shift. Nearly all published studies to date have assumed that patients' focal concerns do not change across the process of psychotherapy. The initial problems are presumed to be the only relevant issues from the first hour until the last. To date, change has typically beenThe authors acknowledge the helpful comments of Alvin 3. Straatmeyer, Hendnka Vande Kemp, Anita Lehmann Sorenson, 3. Craig Yagel, and two anonymous reviewers who read earlier versions of this article.Requests for reprints should be sent to

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%