Process analysis in behavioral family therapy.
K et al. (1990) give BFT supervisors two quick rating sheets that turn vague “good session” talk into numbers you can trust.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Morris et al. (1990) built two new rating tools for behavioral family therapy. One tool codes what happens every 30 seconds in a session. The other rates how well the therapist follows the BFT manual.
The authors tested the codes with trained raters and showed the scales are reliable. They did not test if the therapy itself helps families.
What they found
The 30-second interval codes and the therapist-competency checklists gave steady numbers across raters. Supervisors now have a clear, minute-by-minute picture of what therapists do in session.
How this fits with other research
Blanchette et al. (2016) did the same thing for parents’ views. They built the STP scale to rate how much moms and dads like skill-building programs for kids with autism. Both papers give BCBAs a short, psychometrically sound form to fill out.
Shawler et al. (2021) took the idea to teachers. Their ABAIT-R scale measures how well teachers know FBA and behavior plans. Like Morris et al. (1990), the scale is quick and has good reliability, but it swaps the family-therapy lens for a classroom lens.
Metras (2017) and Canon et al. (2022) move one step further. They use brief BST or clicker training to raise therapist skill once it is measured. Morris et al. (1990) handed us the ruler; these later studies show how to move the score.
Why it matters
If you supervise family sessions, these free codes let you spot drift in real time. Run the 30-second sheet during a live or video session, mark therapist steps, and give instant feedback. Pair the sheet with later BST drills to lock in the skills you just measured.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Process research in behavioral family therapy (BFT) is a hitherto neglected area with the notable exception of the work of Alexander and Patterson with their colleagues. However, the development of instruments to assess therapist's behavior during the treatment session seems timely for the following reasons: (a) to investigate the relationship between therapist behavior and outcome, (b) to improve therapist training/supervision, (c) to establish treatment integrity in comparative outcome studies, and (d) to monitor treatment progress. For these purposes two sets of instruments were developed: (a) a category system to describe the content of a session, which is rated every 30 seconds and (b) several rating scales to evaluate therapist behavior, including relationship competency, ability to structure a session, didactic competence, ability to initiate behavioral probes, use of appropriate intervention strategies, use of reinforcement, and dealing with uncooperativeness. Scales are described, and data on their reliability and utility are presented.
Behavior modification, 1990 · doi:10.1177/01454455900144004