This investigation examined the reliability and validity of a rating scale for codependency in substance abuse treatment. The investigators developed an example-anchored rating scale to operationalize codependency as substance abuse counselors construe it in practice, and recruited 27 counselors for a counterbalanced multiple-treatment experiment. Counselors were randomly assigned to one of four continuing education workshops for rating-scale training, and asked to evaluate codependency in five videotaped cases. Semistructured case interviews were videotaped with a male and a female from five adult populations to vary the gender and codependency of cases: (1) outpatients in treatment for addiction, (2) outpatient spouses, (3) members of Codependents Anonymous, (4) United States Bureau of Land Management smoke jumpers, and (5) college students majoring in business or economics. To control for gender effects, one workshop presented male cases, one workshop presented female cases, and two workshops presented cases of both genders. To control for order effects, the assignment of videotapes to workshops was randomized to counterbalance the order in which counselors viewed them. The findings suggest that the rating scale yields reliable and valid evaluations of codependency without appreciable gender bias.
This investigation used multiple regression in a cross-lagged panel analysis to test Interactional Social Work (ISW) theory in a challenging replication. ISW is a causal model of change which asserts that workers\u27 practice skills help create positive working relationships, which are the medium through which workers influence practice outcomes. The empirical support for ISW theory comes from research using cross-sectional designs. This replication used a longitudinal design to expose Interactional Social Work theory to causal tests of association, temporal order, and independence. The replication varied the focus of social work supervision governing supervised practice with 161 clients in a community mental health setting, and examined the causal order among skills and relationships of supervised practice and client outcomes over time. The findings support, alter, and introduce links in the chain of Interactional Social Work theory
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.