Vol 3 No 2 (2024)

• Therapeutic Alliance and Treatment Outcomes Among Treatment Seekers with Behavioral Expressions of Addiction: A Preliminary Study

  Ryan Hing-yan Wong, Elda Mei-Lo Chan, Fung Yee Ching, Vanice W.Y. Chan, Matthew A. Tom, Alessandra B. Grossman, Alexander S. LaRaja, Karen A. Amichia, Howard J. Shaffer

  Therapeutic alliance (TA) refers to the quality of the working relationship between a therapist and client. Clinicians and researchers have long hypothesized that the TA is an instrumental aspect of psychotherapy (Martin et al., 2000; Del Re et al., 2012). Given the considerable overlap between behavioral and chemical expressions of addiction, and previous TA research with chemical addiction, it is important to consider how TA is associated with those seeking treatment for behavioral expressions of addiction. This study evaluates the impact of TA on addiction treatment outcomes among those seeking care at a treatment center designed to care for a variety of addiction expressions and other mental health disorders. We successfully recruited 346 treatment seekers (i.e., 72.1% of eligible treatment seekers) from the pool of treatment seekers at three clinical addiction service locations. This study advances the field and contributes novel findings by including a diverse group of addiction treatment-seekers. The results provide partial support for the following hypothesis: A more favorable TA from the client’s point of view at intake is associated with reductions of the addictive behavior despite negative consequences at termination. We suggest that clients need to develop, recognize, and maintain a strong TA with their treatment provider early in the treatment process, to maximize the effectiveness of such treatment.

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• Breast Cancer and Family Support Scale: Validation of the Greek Version

  D Charos

  The family support scale (FS-12) was designed to assess family support patients with chronic diseases. The aim of this particular study was to validate the psychometric properties of the FS- 12 scale in the Greek language. The study involved 130 patients diagnosed with breast cancer. The FS-12 scale was translated and culturally weighted to be used in the Greek language.  Analyzes performed were to check reliability, validity and convergent validity. The weighted FS-12 scale had a good Cronbach α index (α = 0.77) and strong split-half reliability index (Spearman-Brown= 0.729, Guttman Split Haft= 0.728). Factor analysis was performed using principal component factor analysis. Based on the results of the study, the FS12-GR scale is a valuable tool to assess the family support of the breast cancer patient.

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