CIPsi - Psychology Research Center, Psychotherapy and Psychopathology Research Unit, School of Psychology, University of Minho, Portugal.
Clin Psychol Psychother. 2020 Sep;27(5):727-735. doi: 10.1002/cpp.2457. Epub 2020 Apr 27.
Research emphasizes that individuals' engagement with change process is a significant predictor of therapeutic outcomes. Ambivalence is a natural phenomenon in change processes, but when individuals cannot overcome it, their problems may intensify. Ambivalence towards change, a client variable characterized by an intrapersonal conflict between two positions of the self, one in favour of change and another one in favour of the status quo, is shown to play a determinant role in psychotherapy. Despite its importance, few empirical studies have examined this process, and the considerable methodological differences among existing studies make it difficult to generalize results. Therefore, instruments measuring ambivalence in an effective way can help broaden the understanding of the process. First, we performed a content analysis of ambivalence events identified in psychotherapy sessions from previous studies using an observational coding system. The factor structure, reliability and validity of the measure were tested using 91 and confirmed with 223 psychotherapy clients at any time during the therapeutic process. A two-factor structure was found, suggesting two components of Ambivalence-Demoralization and Wavering. The results indicated that the Ambivalence in Psychotherapy Questionnaire exhibits good psychometric properties, including good convergent and divergent validity. The implications are discussed.
研究强调，个体对变化过程的参与是治疗结果的重要预测因素。矛盾心理是变化过程中的一种自然现象，但当个体无法克服矛盾心理时，他们的问题可能会加剧。在心理治疗中，矛盾心理（一种自我内部冲突的个体变量，一种倾向于变化，另一种倾向于现状）被证明起着决定性的作用。尽管它很重要，但很少有实证研究检验这个过程，而且现有研究之间存在很大的方法学差异，使得很难推广结果。因此，能够有效衡量矛盾心理的工具可以帮助我们更深入地理解这一过程。首先，我们使用观察性编码系统对以往研究中从心理治疗会话中识别出的矛盾心理事件进行了内容分析。该测量工具的结构、信度和效度使用 91 名和 223 名治疗过程中任何时间的心理治疗客户进行了测试。结果发现，存在两种因素结构，分别是矛盾心理-沮丧和动摇。结果表明，心理治疗中的矛盾心理问卷具有良好的心理计量学特性，包括良好的聚合和发散效度。讨论了其意义。
