Theses and Dissertations from UMD
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New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a give thesis/dissertation in DRUM
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Item THERAPIST COMMON FACTORS’ INFLUENCE ON CLIENT CONSTRUCTIVE COMMUNICATION AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION IN COUPLE THERAPY(2018) Harbison, Liza; Epstein, Norman B; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study investigated the relationship between therapist common factors behaviors and changes in client constructive communication during couple therapy. Research suggests that common factors are associated with client improvement, but research on these factors in couple therapy is lacking. This study was a secondary data analysis of 41 couples presenting with mild to moderate psychological and physical partner aggression who received ten sessions of couple therapy at a university family therapy clinic. The study examined the relationship between therapist collaborative behavior and use of systemically based techniques coded from the fourth couple therapy session, and changes in client constructive communication, measured by client cognitions during conflict, client and partner behavior during conflict, and video coding of couple communication. Minimal significant links were found, but unexpectedly, therapist use of systemic techniques was negatively associated with change in female constructive problem solving cognitions. Implications of these findings are discussed.Item Common factors in couple therapy for partner aggression: A therapy process and outcome study(2014) Park, Woochul; Epstein, Norman B; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The present study investigated roles of common factors related to outcome indices that exist across therapy models in couple therapy for partner aggression. As client common factors, individuals' pre-therapy levels of trust in their partners and degrees to which they vent anger were tested as predictors of change in relationship satisfaction and psychological aggression. As therapist factors degree of empathy expressed toward clients, use of systemic intervention techniques, and degree to which the therapist imposed structure on sessions were examined in relation to therapy outcomes. Based on social learning theory, not only main effects but also interaction effects of client factors and therapist factors on therapy outcomes were examined. Structural equation modeling was used to test an Actor-Partner Interdependence Model in which partners scores on measures of relationship qualities are assumed to influence each other. Female partners benefited more from the therapy than did male partners, particularly in increases in relationship satisfaction. However, females and males had equal reductions in psychological aggression. Unexpectedly, lower level of trust predicted more positive change in psychological aggression, but not in relationship satisfaction. As expected, higher venting of anger was negatively associated with improvement in relationship satisfaction and psychological aggression. Higher therapist use of systemic techniques predicted more positive change in relationship satisfaction only for female partners. Interaction effects suggesting a buffering role of empathy against the negative effect of a lower level of trust were detected. Overall, it was client factors and not therapist factors that made differences in therapy outcome indices. Also, predominantly actor effects rather than partner effects occurred. That is, clients' changes on outcome indices were related more to their own characteristics than to their partners' characteristics. Strikingly, regarding partner effects, only male-to-female partner effects were found, meaning that female partners' therapeutic changes over the course of therapy were predicted by their male partners' characteristics. Overall, the present study demonstrated that common factors do operate in couple therapy for partner aggression across therapy models, although those common factors are mostly client characteristics rather than therapist behaviors and involve male partners' characteristics.Item Couple Therapy Process and Its Relation to Therapy Outcome(2011) Evans, Laura Melisa; Epstein, Norman B.; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Research on psychotherapy has found that characteristics of clients and therapists often are more strongly associated with treatment outcome than are specific therapeutic models or techniques. This study examined the relations between client and therapist common factors and outcomes of couple therapy. The sample was 40 couples presenting with mild to moderate psychological and physical abuse and who received ten sessions of couple therapy at a university-based clinic. The study investigated relations of client common factor characteristics (negative communication and negative attributions) and the therapist common factor characteristics (warmth, empathy, presence, validation and systemic techniques and session structuring) with couple therapy outcomes (changes in overall relationship satisfaction and in level of psychologically abusive behavior). Hierarchical linear modeling analyses testing an Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM) revealed that males' negative attributions were associated with a decrease over treatment in their own use of psychological abuse, whereas females' negative attributions were associated with increased use of psychological abuse by males. Females' negative communication was associated with increased psychological abuse by females. As expected, therapist use of technique factors was associated with decreased psychological abuse by males. Unexpectedly, therapist presence was associated with less positive change in relationship satisfaction for males, and therapist use of technique factors was associated with less positive change in relationship satisfaction and increased use of psychological abuse for females. Therapist factors moderated the relationships between the client pre-treatment negative characteristics and therapy outcome, such that in some cases higher levels of therapist factors (warmth, presence, validation) enhanced a positive relationship between pre-treatment negativity and positive therapeutic outcomes and in others higher levels of the therapist factors (technique factors, presence, validation) amplified a negative relationship between pre-treatment characteristics and poor therapeutic outcomes. Therapist factors did not buffer the negative relationship between client negativity and positive therapy outcomes as expected, although there were instances in which therapist factors enhanced a positive relationship between these variables. Actor and partner effects, as well as gender differences, are discussed. The study's implications and limitations are considered as they contribute to understanding how client and therapist common factors influence the course of couple therapy.