Therapists' Emotional Reactions to Anxious Inpatients During Integrated Behavioral-Psychodynamic Treatment: A Psychometric Evaluation of a Feeling Word Checklist

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the factor structure of a feeling checklist purported to measure therapists' emotional reactions to their patients, and to evaluate psychometrically the factor-based scales. Therapists completed the checklist after both a behavioral and a psychodynamic phase of a treatment program for inpatients with panic disorder, agoraphobia, and other phobic disorders. The results of factor analysis revealed three distinct dimensions: interest-boredom, insecurity-security, and anger. The corresponding three subscales proved to have a satisfactory internal consistency, and they correlated strongly with their respective factors. The criterion-oriented validity of the insecurity and anger subscales was supported by their ability to differentiate between completers and noncompleters of the program. The three subscales correlated poorly with DSM-III-R personality disorder indices. More subjectively experienced interest and less subjectively experienced anger on the part of the therapists toward patients were related to a stronger reduction in the patients' avoidance behavior in the one-year follow-up period.