Caretaker Psychological Factors Predicting Premature Termination of Children's Counseling

Abstract

This study examines the psychological factors associated with caretakers' premature termination of counseling for their children. Data were collected on the 85 primary caretakers of 85 children in Texas who applied for counseling at community mental health centers or who received private practitioner care. The general hypothesis of the study was that scores on general hostility, intrapunitive hostility, extrapunitive hostility, paranoid ideation, depression, and anxiety would discriminate caretakers who prematurely terminated their children's counseling from both those caretakers whose children, in the judgment of the counselors, met therapeutic goals and those caretakers whose children did not meet therapeutic goals but who attended at least 10 counseling sessions. The effect size results suggest that counselors should primarily consider caretaker intrapunitive hostility when anticipating potential premature termination of counseling for children.

A predictive model of adolescent persistence in counseling

“…Adolescents from families whom were headed by a single parent, reported low SES, or were from a non-dominant ethnic group, were less likely to persist in counseling . Additionally, adolescents' whose parents who engaged in negative parenting styles or did not have strong positive beliefs about the treatment process were more likely to drop out from counseling prematurely Venable & Thompson, 1998). Overall, youth engaged in externalizing behaviors, and whose home environments are characterized by non-dominant groups or high levels of parental stress, were at greater risk for prematurely terminating from counseling.…”

“…In addition to individual factors, researchers have also examined environmental variables as they related to child and adolescent persistence in counseling. Venable and Thompson (1998) proposed that understanding familial characteristics might serve to help predict early termination among child and adolescent clients. Although demographic variables of the child or adolescent client were not indicative of premature termination in other studies, found that parents who terminated treatment for their children prematurely were more likely to identify as members of a non-dominant ethnic group, single, reported lower socioeconomic status (SES), and were younger than those who persisted in counseling.…”

“…This finding is inconsistent with previous researchers who found no relationship between client's age and treatment persistence. These studies specifically examined persistence in children and youth under 18 (Venable & Thompson, 1998). As adolescent clients continue to increase their autonomy, the decision to continue to counseling may be less controlled by their parents, thus leading to higher rates of attrition among older adolescents.…”

“…Overall, adolescents whose parents engaged in unhealthy parenting styles, did not have strong positive beliefs about the treatment process, and had high levels of stress were more likely to drop out from counseling prematurely Venable & Thompson, 1998).…”

“…Familial characteristics were also examined; adolescents from families whom were headed by a single parent, reported low socioeconomic status (SES), or were from a non-dominant ethnic group were less likely to persist in counseling . Overall, adolescents whose parents engaged in unhealthy parenting styles, did not have strong positive beliefs about the treatment process, and had high levels of stress were more likely to drop out from counseling prematurely Venable & Thompson, 1998).…”