PROFESSIONAL ISSUES
Measuring therapists' attitudes toward integration of technology in psychotherapy and predicting their use of technology
Branka Bagarić,
Nataša Jokić-Begić,
Corresponding Author
Branka Bagarić
Croatian Association for Behavioral-Cognitive Therapies (CABCT), Zagreb, Croatia
Correspondence Branka Bagarić, Croatian Association for Behavioral-Cognitive Therapies (CABCT), Šenoina 25, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorNataša Jokić-Begić
Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Search for more papers by this authorBranka Bagarić,
Nataša Jokić-Begić,
Corresponding Author
Branka Bagarić
Croatian Association for Behavioral-Cognitive Therapies (CABCT), Zagreb, Croatia
Correspondence Branka Bagarić, Croatian Association for Behavioral-Cognitive Therapies (CABCT), Šenoina 25, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorNataša Jokić-Begić
Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
Objectives
We aimed to develop a measure of psychotherapists' attitudes toward integrating technology in psychotherapy—The Therapists' Attitudes toward using Modern Technologies in Psychotherapy and Counselling Scale (MTPS), to analyze its latent structure and test its reliability and validity.
Method
Items were developed based on interviews with psychotherapists, followed by two online surveys with psychotherapists (N1 = 219; N2 = 369) in five countries in South-eastern Europe.
Results
The MTPS has a 4-factor structure: perceived potential of modern technologies (MTs) to augment therapeutic improvement, perceived psychoeducational value of MTs, perceived risks associated with using MTs, and perceived relevance of MTs. Specific dimensions of the MTPS predicted psychotherapists' behaviors and intentions regarding technology (Rc = 0.15–0.46). The reliability of the MTPS subscales was satisfactory.
Conclusion
MTPS appears to be a useful instrument. Exploring psychotherapists' attitudes assists in predicting obstacles to the implementation of technology in psychotherapy and planning adequate intervention to overcome it.
CONFLICT OF INTERESTS
The authors declare that there are no conflict of interests.
REFERENCES
- American Psychological Association & Committee on Women in Psychology. (2017). The changing gender composition of psychology: Update and expansion of the 1995 task force report. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/women/programs/gender-composition/index.aspx
- Andersson, G., Cuijpers, P., Carlbring, P., Riper, H., & Hedman, E. (2014). Guided Internet-based vs. face-to-face cognitive behavior therapy for psychiatric and somatic disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis. World Psychiatry, 13(3), 288–295. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20151
- Beauducel, A., & Herzberg, P. Y. (2006). On the performance of maximum likelihood versus means and variance adjusted weighted least squares estimation in CFA. Structural Equation Modeling, 13(2), 186–203. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15328007sem1302_2
- Becker, E. M., & Jensen-Doss, A. (2013). Computer-assisted therapies: Examination of therapist-level barriers to their use. Behavior Therapy, 44(4), 614–624. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2013.05.002
- Berger, T., Hämmerli, K., Gubser, N., Andersson, G., & Caspar, F. (2011). Internet-based treatment of depression: A randomized controlled trial comparing guided with unguided self-help. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 40(4), 251–266. https://doi.org/10.1080/16506073.2011.616531
- Breckler, S. J. (1984). Empirical validation of affect, behavior, and cognition as distinct components of attitude. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 47(6), 1191–1205. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.47.6.1191
- Brown, T. A. (2015). Confirmatory factor analysis for applied research, New York: Guilford Publications.
- Carlbring, P., Andersson, G., Cuijpers, P., Riper, H., & Hedman-Lagerlöf, E. (2018). Internet-based vs. face-to-face cognitive behavior therapy for psychiatric and somatic disorders: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 47(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/16506073.2017.1401115
- Carper, M. M., McHugh, R. K., & Barlow, D. H. (2013). The dissemination of computer-based psychological treatment: A preliminary analysis of patient and clinician perceptions. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 40(2), 87–95. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-011-0377-5
- Cohen, J., Cohen, P., West, S. G., & Aiken, L. S. (2003). Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences. Mahwah, NJ: Routledge.
- Costello, A. B., & Osborne, J. W. (2005). Best practices in exploratory factor analysis: Four recommendations for getting the most from your analysis. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 10(7), 1–9.
- Dijksman, I., Dinant, G. J., & Spigt, M. (2017). The perception and needs of psychologists toward blended care. Telemedicine and e-Health, 23(12), 983–995. https://doi.org/10.1089/tmj.2017.0031
- Erbe, D., Eichert, H. C., Riper, H., & Ebert, D. D. (2017). Blending face-to-face and internet-based interventions for the treatment of mental disorders in adults: Systematic review. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 19(9), e306.
- Fabrigar, L. R., Wegener, D. T., MacCallum, R. C., & Strahan, E. J. (1999). Evaluating the use of exploratory factor analysis in psychological research. Psychological Methods, 4(3), 272–299.
- Goss, S., Anthony, K., & Nagel, D. (2012). Wider uses of technologies in therapy, In S. Goss, K. Anthony, & D. Nagel (Eds.), The Sage handbook of counselling and therapy (pp. 594–601). London.
- Gun, S. Y., Titov, N., & Andrews, G. (2011). Acceptability of Internet treatment of anxiety and depression. Australasian Psychiatry, 19(3), 259–264. https://doi.org/10.3109/10398562.2011.562295
- Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2010). Multivariate data analysis ( 7th ed.). London: Prentice-Hall.
- Hayton, J. C., Allen, D. G., & Scarpello, V. (2004). Factor retention decisions in exploratory factor analysis: A tutorial on parallel analysis. Organizational Research Methods, 7(2), 191–205. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094428104263675
- Hinkin, T. R., Tracey, J. B., & Enz, C. A. (1997). Scale construction: Developing reliable and valid measurement instruments. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 21(1), 100–120.
10.1177/109634809702100108 Google Scholar
- Hu, L. T., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6(1), 1–55.
- Kelders, S. M., Kok, R. N., Ossebaard, H. C., & Van Gemert-Pijnen, J. E. (2012). Persuasive system design does matter: A systematic review of adherence to web-based interventions. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 14(6), e152.
- Kenter, R. M., van deVen, P. M., Cuijpers, P., Koole, G., Niamat, S., Gerrits, R. S., … vanStraten, A. (2015). Costs and effects of Internet cognitive behavioral treatment blended with face-to-face treatment: Results from a naturalistic study. Internet Interventions, 2(1), 77–83.
10.1016/j.invent.2015.01.001 Google Scholar
- Kline, R. B. (2015). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. Guilford publications.
- Likert, R. (1974). The method of constructing an attitude scale. In G. M. Maranell (Ed.), Scaling: A sourcebook for behavioral scientists (pp. 90–95). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
- Månsson, K. N., Klintmalm, H., Nordqvist, R., & Andersson, G. (2017). Conventional cognitive behavioral therapy facilitated by an internet-based support system: Feasibility study at a psychiatric outpatient clinic. JMIR Research Protocols, 6(8), e158. https://doi.org/10.2196/resprot.6035
- Newton, J., & Sundin, E. C. (2016). A questionnaire-based qualitative study of therapist views on computerized CBT. The Cognitive Behaviour Therapist, 9, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1754470X16000131
- Palmqvist, B., Carlbring, P., & Andersson, G. (2007). Internet-delivered treatments with or without therapist input: Does the therapist factor have implications for efficacy and cost? Expert Review of Pharmacoeconomics & Outcomes Research, 7(3), 291–297.
- Pierce, B. S., Perrin, P. B., & McDonald, S. D. (2019). Path analytic modeling of psychologists' openness to performing clinical work with telepsychology: A national study. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 75, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.22851
- Rees, C. S., & Stone, S. (2005). Therapeutic alliance in face-to-face versus videoconferenced psychotherapy. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 36(6), 649–653.
- Rhemtulla, M., Brosseau-Liard, P. E., & Savalei, V. (2012). When can categorical variables be treated as continuous? A comparison of robust continuous and categorical SEM estimation methods under suboptimal conditions. Psychological Methods, 17(3), 354–373. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029315
- Richards, P., Simpson, S., Bastiampillai, T., Pietrabissa, G., & Castelnuovo, G. (2018). The impact of technology on therapeutic alliance and engagement in psychotherapy: The therapist's perspective. Clinical Psychologist, 22(2), 171–181.
- Rosseel, Y., Oberski, D., Byrnes, J., Vanbrabant, L., Savalei, V., Merkle, E., … Chow, M. (2018). Package “lavaan”. Retrieved from https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/lavaan/lavaan.pdf
- Schröder, J., Berger, T., Meyer, B., Lutz, W., Hautzinger, M., Späth, C., … Moritz, S. (2017). Attitudes towards internet interventions among psychotherapists and individuals with mild to moderate depression symptoms. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 41(5), 745–756. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-017-9850-0
- Schuster, R., Pokorny, R., Topooco, N., Berger, T., & Laireiter, A. R. (2018). Advantages and disadvantages of online and blended therapy: Attitudes towards both interventions amongst licensed psychotherapists in Austria. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 20(12), e11007. https://doi.org/10.2196/11007
- Stallard, P., Richardson, T., & Velleman, S. (2010). Clinicians' attitudes towards the use of computerized cognitive behaviour therapy (cCBT) with children and adolescents. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 38(5), 545–560. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1352465810000421
- Tabachnick, L. B. G., & Fidell, S. (2013). Using multivariate statistics ( 6th ed.). Boston: Pearson.
- Titzler, I., Saruhanjan, K., Berking, M., Riper, H., & Ebert, D. D. (2018). Barriers and facilitators for the implementation of blended psychotherapy for depression: A qualitative pilot study of therapists' perspective. Internet Interventions, 12, 150–164.
- Topooco, N., Riper, H., Araya, R., Berking, M., Brunn, M., Chevreul, K., … Kleiboer, A. (2017). Attitudes towards digital treatment for depression: A European stakeholder survey. Internet Interventions, 8, 1–9.
- van derVaart, R., Witting, M., Riper, H., Kooistra, L., Bohlmeijer, E. T., & vanGemert-Pijnen, L. J. (2014). Blending online therapy into regular face-to-face therapy for depression: Content, ratio and preconditions according to patients and therapists using a Delphi study. BMC Psychiatry, 14(1), 355. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-014-0355-z
- Venkatesh, V., Morris, M. G., Davis, G. B., & Davis, F. D. (2003). User acceptance of information technology: Toward a unified view. MIS Quarterly, 27, 425–478.
- Vigerland, S., Ljótsson, B., Gustafsson, F. B., Hagert, S., Thulin, U., Andersson, G., & Serlachius, E. (2014). Attitudes towards the use of computerized cognitive behavior therapy (cCBT) with children and adolescents: A survey among Swedish mental health professionals. Internet Interventions, 1(3), 111–117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.invent.2014.06.002
10.1016/j.invent.2014.06.002 Google Scholar
- Vis, C., Kleiboer, A., Prior, R., Bønes, E., Cavallo, M., Clark, S. A., … Zabala, A. F. (2015). Implementing and up-scaling evidence-based eMental health inEurope: The study protocol for the MasterMind project. Internet Interventions, 2(4), 399–409.
10.1016/j.invent.2015.10.002 Google Scholar
- Wangberg, S. C., Gammon, D., & Spitznogle, K. (2007). In the eyes of the beholder: Exploring psychologists' attitudes towards and use of e-therapy in Norway. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 10(3), 418–423. https://doi.org/10.1089/cpb.2006.9937
- Watkins, M. W. (2006). Determining parallel analysis criteria. Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods, 5(2), 344–346.
10.22237/jmasm/1162354020 Google Scholar
- Wentzel, J., van derVaart, R., Bohlmeijer, E. T., & vanGemert-Pijnen, J. E. (2016). Mixing online and face-to-face therapy: How to benefit from blended care in mental health care. JMIR Mental Health, 3(1), e9.
- Whitfield, G., & Williams, C. (2004). If the evidence is so good–why doesn't anyone use them? A national survey of the use of computerized cognitive behaviour therapy. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 32(1), 57–65. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1352465804001031
