Observing the Working Alliance in Videoconferencing Psychotherapy for Alcohol Addiction: Reliability and Validity of the Working Alliance Inventory Short Revised Observer

Abstract

The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected the mental health and alcohol consumption of individuals. Videoconferencing psychotherapy has become a fundamental mode of treatment for people with alcohol use disorders. However, there are still doubts about its effectiveness and the therapeutic relationship. The working alliance is considered a foundation of effective practice in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Observer measurements of the working alliance have demonstrated reliability and meaningful associations with the reduction of symptoms. However, translations of instruments to evaluate the working alliance and examine its construct have not previously been conducted for online psychotherapy for alcohol addiction. This study aimed for the cross-cultural adaptation of the Working Alliance Inventory-Short Form-Observer (WAI-SR-O) for Brazil and the evaluation of its reliability and evidence of its validity in videoconferencing psychotherapy for alcoholism. The WAI-SR-O was applied by pairs of observers for the evaluation of the working alliance in 19 recorded sessions of videoconferencing psychotherapy of 10 clients with a diagnosis of alcohol addiction. The sessions were also evaluated by the therapist (WAI-T) and client (WAI-C). The WAI-SR-O shows a moderate inter-rater intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC = 0.67) for the general scale, higher ICC for the goals and bond subscales, and a moderate value for the task subscale. The internal consistency was good (a = 0.86). The results show low but significant correlations among the goals and bond subscales of the WAI-SR-O and the general, goals, and bond scales of the WAI-T. No correlations were found with the WAI-C. As the literature points out, the client, therapist, and observer versions of the WAI evaluated the alliance differently, requiring further study. The WAI-SR-O proved to be a reliable and valid measurement for the evaluation of the working alliance in videoconferencing psychotherapy for alcohol addiction, becoming an important tool for the study of the working alliance in telepsychotherapy.