Therapist Interpersonal Behavior: An Investigation of Various Constructs and Underlying Abilities

Objective: Psychotherapists differ in their treatment effectiveness as measured by the therapy outcome of their patients. One possible factor for therapist effects seems to be the therapists’ interpersonal skills. Therapist assessments of interpersonal skills have demonstrated sufficient predictive validity, but little is known about underlying skills and related constructs. The purpose of the present study is to compare the different constructs of interpersonal skills with each other and to investigate possible underlying abilities. Study Population and Methods: In this exploratory study, the concept of interpersonal skills was investigated using three survey methods (questionnaires, computer tests, and assessments) and comparing two measurements each. For this purpose, 6 measures of interpersonal skills were collected from 20 prospective psychotherapists as well as 28 psychology students (total N = 48). Alongside more traditional methods, the correlations and overlaps of the constructs were examined using partial and Bayesian networks. Results: Moderate to high correlations are found within the self-report measures. The assessments, however, did not correlate with self-report measures nor with computer tests. Discussion and Conclusion: The similarities in the self-assessments indicate stable self-concepts of interpersonal skills, which, however, cannot be explained by the underlying skills nor by the observer-based evaluations. The marginal correlation between the assessments also indicates that interpersonal, therapy-related abilities must be interpreted in a situation-specific manner.