Publication Date

Fall 2018

Advisor(s) - Committee Chair

Frederick Grieve (Director), Sally Kuhlenschmidt, Imelda Bratton, and Kimberlee Everson

Degree Program

Department of Leadership, Foundations, and Human Resource Education (University of Louisville)

Degree Type

Doctor of Psychology

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact that parent-therapist working alliance, parent self-efficacy, and parent locus of control have on child therapy outcomes. Bordin’s model of the working alliance provides a framework for measuring the collaboration between the parents and therapists while Social Cognitive Theory informs the decision to assess parent self-efficacy and parent locus of control.

The research questions were as follows: 1) Does a strong parent and therapist working alliance, as perceived by the parent, predict improved outcomes in child counseling? 2) Does parent self-efficacy predict outcomes in child counseling? 3) Does parent locus of control predict improved outcomes in child counseling?

Stepwise multiple regression was used to determine the predictive power of the independent variables on treatment goal progress for children in therapy. Parents’ perception of their working alliance with the therapist, parent-self efficacy, and parent locus of control were the independent variables. Therapists’ assessments of child progress on their primary treatment plan goal was the dependent variable. The stepwise multiple regression analysis indicates that parents’ perception of the working alliance with the child’s therapist had an R2 of .11 in relation to the children’s progress on their primary treatment plan goal. Parent self-efficacy and parent locus of control did not contribute significantly to the model. However, parent self-efficacy and parent locus of control had a moderate correlation with parents’ perception of the working alliance (r = .55 and .48, respectively).

Developing a strong working alliance between parents of child clients and their therapists appears to be an important part of predicting children’s therapy outcomes. Furthermore, parent self-efficacy and parent locus of control appear to have a relationship with parent perception of the working alliance.

Disciplines

Child Psychology | Clinical Psychology | Psychology

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