Abstract

ENEAS, Maria Leonor Espinosa. Psychic change assessed by The Rutgers Psychotherapy Progress Scale. Aval. psicol. [online]. 2003, vol.2, n.1, pp. 45-56. ISSN 1677-0471.

The present paper is a retrospective study of the predictive validity of the Rutgers Psychotherapy Progress Scale (RPPS). The scale is composed by eight theoretically based items and it assesses the transcriptions of the sessions in the sequence of occurrence using a 5-point scale. The research used two complete short-term psychotherapies both similar in duration and in the subjects' conditions. Both processes were assessed before and after therapy in terms of the adaptive quality (EDAO) and psychodynamic functioning (EAP and EAR), one of which was considered to have had a very good outcome and the other a mildly positive outcome. This study also verified the reliability of the evaluations of RPPS made by groups of judges using the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient. The result showed a minimal agreement of 0,40 in six items, three of which were common to both processes. The clinical analysis of the evaluation of the common items also used their evaluations as criteria. It was verified that the evolution of Collaboration during all the processes showed a predictive value in discriminating the outcomes. The scale showed sensibility to identify critical episodes in the therapeutic progress.

Keywords : Short-term psychotherapy; Psychotherapeutic process; Psychic change; Assessment scale.

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