The relation between specific and general dimensions of the psychotherapy process in interpersonal psychotherapy of depression.

This article examines the relation between general dimensions of the psychotherapy process, rated with the Vanderbilt Psychotherapy Process Scale (VPPS), and a type of manual-guided psychotherapy, Short-Term Interpersonal Psychotherapy of Depression (IPT). With the use of data from a training program in IPT, two types of analyses were performed. First, VPPS factors were correlated with IPT therapist competence ratings. This analysis showed that all VPPS-rated dimensions of patient and therapist behaviors were significantly correlated with IPT competence ratings. Especially strong correlations occurred between IPT competence ratings and the VPPS therapist factors of (a) Exploration and (b) Warmth and Friendliness. Second, to evaluate whether the general process features that influenced IPT competence ratings were also related to the therapy's effectiveness, correlations between VPPS process dimensions and patient outcome were performed. This analysis indicated that VPPS-rated therapist behaviors were significantly predictive of patient outcome, whereas patient behaviors were generally not significantly related to outcome. Taken together, the findings indicate the importance of general aspects of the psychotherapy process in therapist evaluation and efficacy of manual-guided psychotherapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)