Discrepancies in therapist and client ratings of global improvement following cognitive behavioral therapy for social phobia and their differential relations with symptom improvement at post-treatment and 12-month follow-up.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to examine discrepancies in client and therapist ratings of global improvement and their relations to symptom improvement at post-treatment and 12-month follow-up.

METHOD: Participants (N = 59) with social phobia received eight sessions of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Participants and therapists rated improvement following each session. Participants also rated improvement at follow-up. Participants completed symptom severity self-reports at post-treatment and follow-up.

RESULTS

Clients consistently rated themselves as more improved than therapists. Relative to client ratings, therapist post-treatment ratings of improvement were related to more indices of symptom change at both timepoints.

CONCLUSIONS

RESULTS suggest that therapist ratings have good predictive utility of client-reported change in symptoms.