The Therapy Process Observational Coding System for Child Psychotherapy Strategies Scale

Abstract

Most everyday child and adolescent psychotherapy does not follow manuals that document the procedures. Consequently, usual clinical care has remained poorly understood and rarely studied. The Therapy Process Observational Coding System for Child Psychotherapy–Strategies scale (TPOCS–S) is an observational measure of youth psychotherapy procedures designed to support the study of usual clinical care by providing a means of characterizing it. Coders independently rated usual care therapy sessions conducted with 43 children (aged 8–15 years) diagnosed with anxiety and depressive disorders. The TPOCS–S showed good interrater reliability, its 5 subscales (e.g., Behavioral, Cognitive, Psychodynamic, Client-Centered, Family) showed good internal consistency, and analyses supported TPOCS–S validity.

The work reported here was facilitated by a National Research Service Award from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) awarded to Bryce D. McLeod (F31-MH64993-01). Support for the study came from grants to John Weisz from NIMH (R01 MH 57347, for the YADS trial; and R01 MH49522), the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the Norlien Foundation.

Notes

¹The original version of the TPC consisted of three scales: Cognitive, Behavioral, and Psychodynamic, which showed psychometric strength in the initial study by Weersing et al. (2002). The TPC authors later added a Family scale consisting of 12 items. The revised version of the TPC consists of 62 items, which represent therapy techniques that map onto one of the four scales. A recent study by Baumann, Kolko, Collins, and Herschell (2006) provided support for the psychometrics of the three original TPC scales and the newer Family scale.

Note. DSM–IV = Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.); CBCL = Child Behavior Checklist.

²For YADS, 268 clinically referred youth were assessed for eligibility. A total of 105 youth were enrolled in YADS who were then randomly assigned to manualized CBT (n = 56) or usual clinical care (n = 49). All youth from the usual care group who had audible tapes were included in the present sample. Of the youth not enrolled in YADS, 137 did not meet inclusion criteria and 26 were not enrolled for other reasons (e.g., moved away).

Note. TPOCS–S = The Therapy Process Observational Coding System for Child Psychotherapy–Strategies scale; ICC = intraclass correlation coefficient.

Note. The numbers in bold represent the internal consistency of the TPOCS–S subscales. TPOCS–S = The Therapy Process Observational Coding System for Child Psychotherapy–Strategies scale.

∗p < .05. ∗∗p < .01.