California Psychotherapy Alliance Scale (CALPAS): Psychometric properties of the German version for group and individual therapy patients

BackgroundValid and internationally used instruments measuring therapeutic alliance are fundamental for psychotherapy research and practice. The main goal of this study was to validate a German version of the California Psychotherapy Alliance Scale (CALPAS) for the individual and the group therapy setting.MethodsA total of 203 patients undergoing individual or group therapy filled out the CALPAS right after a therapy session. To test convergent and discriminant validity, a subsample of group therapy patients were handed out the Group Climate Questionnaire (GCQ) and a short form of the Symptom-Checklist (SCL-K-9).Results and ConclusionThe German version of the CALPAS showed good psychometric properties. Further, therapeutic alliance was found to be stronger in the individual than in the group context, suggesting a less central (or different) role played by group therapists. Clinical implications and possible focus of future research are discussed.