SHBC1478

Y.X.S.TEY¹, N.RANE¹, F.B.L.TAN², K.P.X.TAN², W.Z.LEE², N.A.ABDULLAH¹, S.H.X.LU¹, Y.M.MOK¹, G.C.TAN¹

Institute of Mental Health¹, National University of Singapore²

40% of improvements in clients’ clinical outcomes have been attributed to client factors, while therapy-specific factors account for 15% of improvement. Yet, little is known about how these factors predict therapeutic outcomes in the Singapore context.

Scores for anxiety (GAD-7), depression (QIDS-16), and quality of life (Q-LES-Q-SF) were collected longitudinally from Institute of Mental Health clients (N = 32) who underwent internet-based, group or individual psychotherapy over two months. They also completed the Readiness for Psychotherapy Index (RPI) and Cooper-Norcross Inventory of Preferences (CNIP) scales at baseline, as well as the Client Task Specific Change Measure (CTSC-R) post-therapy. Linear regressions were conducted to identify client and therapy-related predictors of improvement.

Overall, therapy improved anxiety, depression and quality of life. RPI-Distress predicted greater improvements in depression (B=-.469, t(29)=-2.063, p=.048), anxiety (B=-.685, t(30)=-2.906, p=.007) and quality of life (B=1.077, t(29)=2.415, p=.022). Therapy-related change predicted greater improvements in depression (B=-.103, t(30)=-2.106, p=.044), anxiety (B=-.113, t(30)=-2.072, p=.047) and quality of life (B=.350, t(29) =3.105, p=.004). Additionally, anxiety improved if clients preferred therapy that was emotionally intense (B=-.590, t(30)=-3.081, p=.004) and past-focused (B=-.843, t(30)=-3.436, p=.002).

The literature supports our finding that Distress on the RPI and the experience of change in therapy are common predictors of improvement in anxiety, depression and quality of life. We have discovered that preference for emotionally intense and past-focused therapy were unique predictors of improvements in anxiety, which may be informative when planning treatment for clients with anxiety.