The Adolescent Therapeutic Alliance Scale (ATAS): Initial psychometrics and prediction of outcome in family-based substance abuse prevention counseling

This study piloted a 14-item, observer-rated therapeutic alliance scale with adolescents enrolled in family-based substance abuse prevention counseling. The Adolescent Therapeutic Alliance Scale (ATAS) was drawn from 2 main sources: (a) items from the Vanderbilt Therapeutic Alliance Scale-Revised based on developmental considerations and (b) Bordin's (1979) theory of the alliance as consisting of bond, tasks, and goals. Independent observers rated the therapist-adolescent alliance for 51 at-risk, African American adolescents (aged 11-14 years). Factor analysis suggested the ATAS measures one construct (eigenvalue = 8.6, accounting for 61.3% of total scale variance). Item loadings ranged from .40 to .90. Convergent validity with both therapist- and observer-rated engagement was also high. Internal consistency reliability (α =.90) and intraclass correlation (ICC_1,2 = .74) were acceptable. A trend emerged for ATAS ratings to predict improvement in adolescent investment in school. Recommendations are made for future work in developing and implementing measures of therapeutic alliance for adolescents.