Is the Use of Interpretations Associated With Treatment Outcome? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analytic Answer

Sigal Zilcha-Mano; John R. Keefe; Hadar Fisher; Tohar Dolev-Amit; Nirit Veler-Poleg; Jacques P. Barber

doi:10.1037/cps0000158

Is the Use of Interpretations Associated With Treatment Outcome? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analytic Answer

Sigal Zilcha-Mano, John R. Keefe, Hadar Fisher, Tohar Dolev-Amit, Nirit Veler-Poleg, Jacques P. Barber

Department of Psychology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Interpretation is the doyen of therapeutic techniques and has received some of the greatest theoretical and clinical attention. Nevertheless, to date, no meta-analysis has examined its effect on psychotherapy outcome. In the present systematic reviewand meta-analysis, we examined the association between interpretations and psychotherapy outcome. The meta-analysis was preregistered in PROSPERO. From 13,195 initially identified abstracts, we extracted 16 independent effect sizes from a total of 897 patients. Findings suggest a medium effect size (r=−.23, p =.002), indicating that the use of interpretations is associated with better outcome. This association remains consistent across types of interpretation measures, assessor perspectives, study quality, and number of sessions. Sensitivity analyses demonstrated the robustness of the results.

Original language	English
Journal	Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1037/cps0000158
State	Accepted/In press - 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The work was partially supported by a grant from the American Psychoanalytic Association. This work was also supported by grants from the Israeli Science Foundation (Grant 186/15; 395/19).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 American Psychological Association

Keywords

interpretations
meta-analysis
psychodynamic treatment
transference

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Clinical Psychology

Access to Document

10.1037/cps0000158

Cite this

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title = "Is the Use of Interpretations Associated With Treatment Outcome? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analytic Answer",

abstract = "Interpretation is the doyen of therapeutic techniques and has received some of the greatest theoretical and clinical attention. Nevertheless, to date, no meta-analysis has examined its effect on psychotherapy outcome. In the present systematic reviewand meta-analysis, we examined the association between interpretations and psychotherapy outcome. The meta-analysis was preregistered in PROSPERO. From 13,195 initially identified abstracts, we extracted 16 independent effect sizes from a total of 897 patients. Findings suggest a medium effect size (r=−.23, p =.002), indicating that the use of interpretations is associated with better outcome. This association remains consistent across types of interpretation measures, assessor perspectives, study quality, and number of sessions. Sensitivity analyses demonstrated the robustness of the results.",

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AU - Dolev-Amit, Tohar

AU - Veler-Poleg, Nirit

AU - Barber, Jacques P.

N1 - Funding Information: The work was partially supported by a grant from the American Psychoanalytic Association. This work was also supported by grants from the Israeli Science Foundation (Grant 186/15; 395/19). Publisher Copyright: © 2023 American Psychological Association

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N2 - Interpretation is the doyen of therapeutic techniques and has received some of the greatest theoretical and clinical attention. Nevertheless, to date, no meta-analysis has examined its effect on psychotherapy outcome. In the present systematic reviewand meta-analysis, we examined the association between interpretations and psychotherapy outcome. The meta-analysis was preregistered in PROSPERO. From 13,195 initially identified abstracts, we extracted 16 independent effect sizes from a total of 897 patients. Findings suggest a medium effect size (r=−.23, p =.002), indicating that the use of interpretations is associated with better outcome. This association remains consistent across types of interpretation measures, assessor perspectives, study quality, and number of sessions. Sensitivity analyses demonstrated the robustness of the results.

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KW - transference

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Is the Use of Interpretations Associated With Treatment Outcome? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analytic Answer

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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