Longitudinal stability of Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale—Global Rating Method dimensional ratings, score ranges and narrative ‘blandness’ in a clinical sample

Abstract

While understanding how internalized representations of others (i.e., object relations) change over the course of treatment is essential for treatment planning and evaluation of progress, few studies have examined the nature of these changes through repeated psychological assessments. In this study, we applied the SCORS-G to Thematic Apperception Test narratives for 61 adult patients with complex psychiatric problems undergoing residential treatment over an 18-month period. Over the course of treatment, patient representations of self and others became more complex, indicating improvements in mentalization. Further, an analysis of default ratings (i.e., an aspect of story 'blandness') suggested that certain shifts in SCORS-G dimensional scores over time were accounted for by greater degree of scorable content across time points, rather than changes specific to the dimensions themselves. Findings from novel exploratory analyses aimed at evaluating the test-retest reliability of both default rating proportion and several emerging alternative scoring approaches (including changes in minimum, maximum and range of scores on individual dimensions) are reported. While the magnitude of change across mean dimensional scores was found to be lower compared to those previously found in outpatient populations, our results suggest that the SCORS-G remains capable of detecting changes in mentalization capacities in individuals contending with longstanding, severe psychiatric impairment and personality-based psychopathology. Implications for treatment, assessment and future research are discussed.

Knowing me, knowing you: A systematic review of object relations assessment.

“…Alpha coefficients were all above .80, with a medium α of .85, confirming solid internal consistency. Test–retest reliability for the SCORS-G variables ranges from small ( r = .30) to medium ( r = .52; Ridenour et al, 2022). The SCORS-G has been used to assess changes in ORs over the course of psychotherapy (e.g., Mullin et al, 2017), to assess the Level of Personality Functioning in the context of Criterion A of the AMPD (Garcia et al, 2021), to investigate the role of quality of ORs in the severity of personality dysfunction (Joyce et al, 2022), and in many other studies to investigate ORs in depth and complexity.…”