Therapeutic alliance has been frequently studied in individual counseling sessions; however, research on therapeutic alliance in residential settings for youth with mental health diagnoses has been limited. This may be due, in part, to the presence of multiple service providers often in caregiving roles. The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric quality of a widely utilized measure of therapeutic alliance used in psychotherapy with youth in residential care where the treatment is provided by a trained married couple. We also compared the relationship between youth ratings of their male and female service provider, as well as examined correlations in ratings between youth and staff on therapeutic alliance. Finally, we investigated the direction, magnitude, and trajectory of change in therapeutic alliance over a 12-month period following admission into residential care. The method was a longitudinal assessment of 135 youth and 124 staff regarding therapeutic alliance over the course of 12 months or discharge from services. Results indicated strong psychometric properties and high correlations for youth ratings of both their male and female service providers. However, the correlation was low between youth and service provider ratings of alliance. Longitudinal analyses indicated that rates of therapeutic alliance changed over time.

A thorough investigation of the electrical properties of the interface between sputter deposited SiC and single crystal GaAs has been performed. Using a previously developed modeling system, element values for the circuit model were obtained. From these element values, physical parameters have been calculated. Correlation of the physical parameters with the deposition procedures was made in order to determine the optimal deposition parameters. The results indicate that SiC does not have a high enough resistivity to be a field effect transistor (FET) gate insulator. However, good adhesion and other film properties indicate that SiC may make a good ‘‘barrier layer’’ for other possible insulators. An attempt to fabricate pseudomorphic films of SiC on GaAs was made in order to study the more complex metal–insulator–SiC–GaAs system for potential FET application.

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Using a previously developed modeling system, the electrical properties of the GaAs-amorphous SiC interface have been studied. The metal–insulator–semiconductor structures were fabricated by sputter deposition of SiC onto GaAs substrates. These devices were analyzed by the measurement of complex impedance versus frequency from 5 Hz to 13 MHz. The frequency dependence of the various parameters derived from the measured complex impedance were compared with the same parameters calculated from the RC electrical circuit model. Using a least-squares fit technique, sets of initial element values were obtained. Determining the correct set of values from the six possible that result from this technique was accomplished using known physical parameters. Once a set was selected, the element values could be fine tuned interactively to obtain the best match possible between the circuit model and the physical data. These element values were then used to characterize the properties of the interface, such as interface state concentration, depletion or accumulation mode, and trap levels. The preliminary results indicate that the SiC–GaAs interface has a reasonably low density of active interface states, but the SiC is not as highly insulating as desirable.