La valutazione dell'alleanza terapeutica nella psicoterapia dei pazienti con disturbo di personalita.

Studied the relation of personality disorders, therapeutic alliance, defense mechanisms, psychopathological symptoms, and dropout from psychotherapy in 41 adults (aged 20-44 yrs) with personality disorders. Data on sociodemographic variables, clinical and psychological symptoms, and treatment characteristics were obtained by questionnaire. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV (DSM-IV), the Defense Mechanism rating Scale (J. C. Perry, 1991), the SCL-90, the California Psychotherapy Alliance Scale (L. Gaston, 1991), and the Global Functioning Scale were used. The results suggest that working strategy consensus and other parameters of therapeutic alliance are predictors of treatment dropout and that some personality disorders are associated with specific indices of therapeutic alliance. The results also indicate that therapists consider that symptom severity does not impact ability to develop a good therapeutic relationship. Implications for developing treatment methods for personality disorders are discussed.