Defense Date
2023
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Bryce McLeod
Abstract
SDM is a process by which clinicians and clients collaboratively make treatment decisions; this process may improve the alliance and clinical outcomes. SDM in youth psychotherapy is understudied, and a critical gap in the field is the paucity of established measures designed to assess SDM practices in youth psychotherapy. This project aimed to fill this gap by examining the score reliability and validity of a novel observer-rated measure of SDM designed for youth psychotherapy—the Shared Decision Making Practices in Youth Mental Health scale (SDM-YMH)—and using the measure to investigate linkages between SDM practices, the alliance, and clinical outcomes. Therapy tapes (N = 150) and accompanying treatment integrity and alliance data were utilized to develop the SDM-YMH. The 38 youth (52.6% male, 60.5% White) in these tapes ranged in age from 8 to 13 years old (M = 9.84, SD = 1.65). Findings provide support for the content validity of SDM-YMH items and support for the inter-rater reliability of SDM-YMH subscale scores (Youth Total ICC[2,2] = .64; Caregiver Total ICC[2,2] = .78) and approximately 38% of items (Youth ICCs: -0.2 to 0.61; Caregiver ICCs: -0.2 to 0.73). However, the construct and predictive validity of SDM-YMH item and subscale scores were not supported. Further research is needed to clarify the psychometric properties of the SDM-YMH, particularly with a more recent sample in which clinicians were explicitly instructed to deliver SDM practices.
Rights
© The Author
Is Part Of
VCU University Archives
Is Part Of
VCU Theses and Dissertations
Date of Submission
2-26-2024