Ability to form an alliance with the therapist: a possible marker of prognosis for patients with antisocial personality disorder.

Antisocial personality disorder is generally perceived to be refractory to treatment, particularly psychotherapy. In this study, the ability of 48 patients with this disorder to form a working relationship with a psychotherapist or drug counselor was examined in relation to outcome of 24 weeks of treatment evaluated at 7-month follow-up. Some antisocial patients were able to form working relationships with their therapists, and there was a significant association between the ability to form such a relationship and treatment outcome. Measures of this ability, such as the Helping Alliance Questionnaire, may help identify antisocial patients who can benefit from psychotherapy.

[1]  R. Cadoret,et al.  Further evidence for heterogeneity in antisocial alcoholics. , 1987, Comprehensive psychiatry.

[2]  G. Woody,et al.  Twelve-month follow-up of psychotherapy for opiate dependence. , 1987, The American journal of psychiatry.

[3]  G. Woody,et al.  Sociopathy and psychotherapy outcome. , 1985, Archives of general psychiatry.

[4]  F. J. Evans,et al.  New Data from the Addiction Severity Index Reliability and Validity in Three Centers , 1985, The Journal of nervous and mental disease.

[5]  R. Cadoret,et al.  Evidence for clinical heterogeneity in antisocial alcoholics. , 1984, Comprehensive psychiatry.

[6]  P. Crits-Christoph,et al.  Two Helping Alliance Methods for Predicting Outcomes of Psychotherapy: A Counting Signs Vs. a Global Rating Method , 1983, The Journal of nervous and mental disease.

[7]  A. Beck,et al.  Psychotherapy for opiate addicts. Does it help? , 1983, Archives of general psychiatry.

[8]  A. Beck,et al.  Psychotherapy for opiate addicts. , 1983, NIDA research monograph.

[9]  T. Millon.  Disorders of Personality: DSM-III: Axis II , 1981 .

[10]  H. Strupp.  Success and failure in time-limited psychotherapy. Further evidence (comparison 4). , 1980, Archives of general psychiatry.

[11]  B Gomes-Schwartz,et al.  Effective ingredients in psychotherapy: prediction of outcome from process variables. , 1978, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[12]  J. Creaser,et al.  Formation of a therapeutic relationship: experiences during the initial phase of psychotherapy as predictors of treatment duration and outcome. , 1976, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[13]  Guze Sb.  Th role of follow-up studies: their contribution to diagnostic classification as applied to hysteria. , 1970 .

[14]  N. Stoler.  Client likability: a variable in the study of psychotherapy. , 1963, Journal of Consulting Psychology.

[15]  B. Karpman.  On the need of separating psychopathy into two distinct clinical types: the symptomatic and the idiopathic. , 1941 .