As demand increased for mental health services, especially in university counseling centers, providers have seen increasing numbers of clients. The effect of this increase on therapist caseloads is explored, with a recognition that past research on therapist caseloads lacks direct and fluctuating measures of caseload that reflect practice in naturalistic settings. Using a large dataset from a counseling center (N ϭ 18,322), therapist caseload was conceptualized dynamically over rolling 30-day periods, using withintherapist counts of therapy sessions, unique clients seen, and the proportion of unique clients to sessions. Analysis of variance was used first to test for differences in caseload between months, years, then to test for differences between therapists (n ϭ 173). Hierarchical linear models were constructed to examine the relationship between changes in therapist caseload across time and client outcome. Logistic and ordinal regression approaches were used to further examine this relationship for clinically significant change. Results included finding a small, but significant, effect of therapist caseload on outcome, with this finding discussed in the context of the effect sizes in the literature on therapist effects.
Impact StatementBecause more people need mental health services, many therapists deal with the demand by seeing more clients. This can make a difference for therapists, who are busier, but also for therapy clients, who have a slight risk of not benefiting as much from treatment.
ObjectiveEmerging research challenges the one‐factor model of the future time perspective (FTP) scale by demonstrating two‐ and three‐factor models of the FTP scale.MethodThree samples (i.e., Switzerland and the United States; N = 2022) explored the factor structure, age pattern differences, tested the link between FTP factors, psychological well‐being, and life satisfaction, as well as age as a moderator.ResultsWe distinguished FTP into opportunities, extension, and constraint factors that corroborated previous research. We did not find a replicable curvilinear age pattern difference on any of the FTP factors. The association between extension and life satisfaction was stronger among younger than older adults. Alternatively, the association between constraint and life satisfaction was stronger among younger than older adults in Samples A and C, and the pattern was reversed in Sample B. Lastly, the association between constraint and environmental mastery was stronger among older adults than younger adults in Sample B and the pattern was reversed in Sample C.ConclusionThis variation in the perception of the future is different for people at different periods in life and has an important consequence for living life well, especially a focus on extension and lack of constraint.
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