The Alliance Negotiation Scale: Portuguese adaptation

Abstract

The transtheoretical conceptualization of the working alliance and the ensuing evaluation tools tend to overestimate the collaboration between therapist and patient and to disregard the negotiation. The degree to which therapists and patients are able to negotiate their disagreements between goals and tasks is an important variable for establishing and maintaining the alliance. The purpose of this study was to adapt the Alliance Negotiation Scale – which operationalizes the theoretical construct of negotiation – to the Portuguese population. A translation and study of the psychometric traits of the scale are presented. After a backward-translation of the scale it was distributed, with the help of therapists, to a sample of 120 participants, all patients in therapeutic process. The scale showed a similar structure to its previous versions, and adequate levels of internal consistency (α=.82). These results reinforce the quality of the scale, construct’s relevance and its transtheoretical nature. These results are a step forward for Portuguese therapists’ and researchers’ ability to evaluate the bond between patient and therapist and to compare results from different countries.