The Group Readiness Questionnaire: A Convergent Validity Analysis

Group psychotherapy researchers and clinicians have attempted to identify general client characteristics that might predict a client's appropriateness for group therapy. The most promising predictors of group process, outcome, and retention variables appear to be clients' positive and nega...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Group dynamics 2013-12, Vol.17 (4), p.299-314
Main Authors: Baker, Elizabeth, Burlingame, Gary M., Cox, Jonathan C., Beecher, Mark E., Gleave, Robert L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Client Characteristics
Convergent Validity
Female
Group Psychotherapy
Human
Male
Patient Selection
Questionnaires
Readiness to Change
Test Validity
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Summary:Group psychotherapy researchers and clinicians have attempted to identify general client characteristics that might predict a client's appropriateness for group therapy. The most promising predictors of group process, outcome, and retention variables appear to be clients' positive and negative interpersonal skills as well as their expectations about whether they will benefit from group therapy. The Group Readiness Questionnaire (GRQ) is a 19-item self-report tool that assesses these 3 domains (positive/negative interpersonal skills and expectations) and has produced positive, albeit preliminary, success in predicting process, outcome, and retention. The current study assessed the GRQ convergent validity by assessing the relationships between its 3 subscales and the subscales of the Group Therapy Questionnaire (GTQ), another well-established selection measure. Participants (N = 269) were new clients presenting at a large university counseling center who completed both measures before the initial consultation session. Results supported the 3 factors of the GRQ and 2 of the 3 convergent validity predictions. Specifically, we found a significant negative correlation between the Expectation subscale of the GRQ and the Expectancy subscale of the GTQ, and a significant positive correlation between the GRQ's Participation subscale and the number of interpersonal problems reported on the GTQ. There was no association between GRQ negative interpersonal skills and the number of GTQ interpersonal problems. These results add to the factorial validity support for the GRQ and partially support the convergent validity of the GRQ and GTQ. Implications of these findings are discussed as well as future research directions.
ISSN:1089-2699
1930-7802
DOI:10.1037/a0034477