The Impact of Matching to Psychotherapy Preference on Engagement in a Randomized Controlled Trial for Patients With Advanced Cancer

Frontiers in Psychology

article

Allison Marziliano¹  Allison Applebaum²  Anne Moyer³  Hayley Pessin²  Barry Rosenfeld⁴  William Breitbart² 

[1] Department of Medicine, Center for Health Innovations and Outcomes Research, Northwell Health, United States;Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, United States;Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, United States;Department of Psychology, Fordham University, United States

关键词: patient preferences;    engagement;    matching;    attrition;    alliance;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2021.637519

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Objective: This study examined whether patients who were randomly assigned to their preferred therapy arm had stronger engagement with their treatment than those who were randomly assigned to a non-preferred therapy arm. Method: Data were drawn from a RCT comparing Individual Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy (IMCP), with Individual Supportive Psychotherapy (ISP), in patients with advanced cancer. Treatment engagement was operationalized as patients' perceptions of the therapeutic alliance with their therapist and therapy sessions attended. Two 2 by 2 Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) models were used, with treatment preference (IMCP vs. ISP) and treatment assignment (IMCP vs. ISP) as the independent variables and working alliance and number of sessions attended as outcome variables. Results: Patients who preferred and were assigned to IMCP reported a significantly stronger alliance than those who preferred IMCP but were assigned to ISP. Conclusions: The findings from this study have broader implications for research on psychotherapy beyond the appeal of IMCP in advanced cancer patients. Patients who prefer a novel psychotherapy that they cannot engage in elsewhere, but receive the standard treatment may experience weaker alliance than patients who prefer the standard but receive the novel therapy.

【 授权许可】

CC BY