Attendance among families in child psychotherapy is a significant issue in the delivery of mental health services, and a greater understanding of the factors contributing to attrition is needed before interventions can be developed, or modified, to improve engagement. The present study examined relationships between parent cognitions, which included treatment expectations, level of hope, and parental locus of control (LOC), negative affect, and two engagement variables: attendance and clinician-reported treatment status three months post-intake. First, demographic variables were examined in relation to hope, parental LOC, negative affect, treatment expectations, which included expectations about child improvement, parent involvement, treatment credibility, and parental effort, and engagement variables, both attendance and treatment status. Next, correlational relationships between hope, parental LOC, negative affect, and specific types of treatment expectations were examined. In order to determine whether hope, parental LOC, and negative affect influenced caregiver report of treatment expectations, linear and logistic regression analyses were subsequently computed. Lastly, hope, parental LOC, negative affect, and total expectations were entered in linear and logistic regression analyses to determine if these variables added predictive utility to demographic variables in predicting attendance and treatment status. In summary, hope, parental LOC, and negative affect were significantly correlated, but these variables were largely unrelated to specific types of treatment expectations, with several notable exceptions. A higher level of caregiver-reported hope was associated with greater expectations about child improvement and total expectations, as well as with caregivers' beliefs about needing to change a large amount in order to help their children improve. This latter expectation was also associated with a more internal parental LOC. Hope, parental LOC, and negative affect did not, however, add predictive utility to demographic variables found to be predictive of specific treatment expectations. Although demographic variables appear to be better predictors of treatment engagement than parental LOC, negative affect, and total treatment expectations, the agency component of hope, which concerns an individual's perception of possessing the ability to achieve a desired outcome, was found to add predictive utility to demographic variables in determining a family's attendance in treatment, with less agency predictive of better attendance.

Last modified

• 09/11/2018

Creator

• Taya R. Cromley

DOI

• https://doi.org/10.21985/N29T6V

Subject

• Clinical Psychology

Keyword

• expectations
• attendance
• parental locus of control
• child psychotherapy
• engagement
• hope

Date created

• 2008-05-13

Resource type

• Dissertation

Rights statement

• In Copyright