The Role of Common and Specific Factors in Child Psychodynamic Psychotherapy: A Grouped Cases Study

ABSTRACT

There is a growing evidence-base that suggests the effectiveness of the psychodynamic therapies for children, but the mechanisms by which the results are achieved still demand clarification. This study aimed to analyze the role of specific and common factors in the process of psychodynamic psychotherapy for school-age children and their association with psychotherapies outcomes. A longitudinal, repeated-measures design, based on the systematic case-study method was adopted. 204 sessions from four child psychotherapies were analyzed in terms of the therapists’ techniques, the therapeutic alliance, the use of the reflective functioning approach and the role of the symbolic play in the sessions. The outcomes were assessed based on mothers’ reports about children’s symptomatic improvement. Correlational, discriminant and regression analyses were used to examine the associations and the role of each factor in those therapeutic processes. The results indicated that the use of psychodynamic techniques and a stronger therapeutic alliance impacted more significantly the symptomatic improvement. The factor that presented more changes over time was the therapeutic alliance, increasing in two cases and decreasing in one of them, which did not show clinically significant symptomatic improvement. Common and specific factors walked together in these treatments, and both were important to produce clinically significant improvements.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Informed consent

All participants in this study provided informed consent for their involvement.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development, CNPq, Brazil, Processes 422602/2018-3 and 309544/2017-3.

Notes on contributors

Vera Regina Röhnelt Ramires

Vera Regina Röhnelt Ramires, MSc, PhD – Unisinos University, Brazil. Associate professor at the Graduate Program in Clinical Psychology. Member of the Steering Committee of the Child, Adolescent, and Family Therapy Research Special Interest Group of the Society for Psychotherapy Research. Email: [email protected]

Amanda Aquino da Costa

Amanda Aquino da Costa - Unisinos University, Brazil. BSc student in Psychology. Research assistant at the Graduate Program in Clinical Psychology at Unisinos. Email: [email protected]

Eduardo Brusius Brenner

Eduardo Brusius Brenner - Unisinos University, Brazil. MSc student at the Graduate Program in Clinical Psychology at Unisinos. Email: [email protected]

Gabriela Dionísio Ffner

Gabriela Dionísio Ffner – Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos, Graduate Program in Clinical Psychology, Porto Alegre (RS), Brazil. Email: [email protected]

Guilherme Fiorini

Guilherme Fiorini, MSc: University College London and Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families, UK. PhD candidate at UCL and member of the Child Attachment and Psychological Therapies Research Unit (ChAPTRe), at the Anna Freud Centre/UCL. Email: [email protected]