Introducing the Expectations and Preference Scales for Couple Therapy (EPSCT): Development, Psychometric Evaluation, and Suggested Use in Practice and Research.

While it is known that client factors account for the largest proportion of outcome variance across treatment modalities, little is known about how clients' characteristics affect the process and effectiveness of couple therapy. To further knowledge in this area, we created a brief, practice-friendly measure, the Expectation and Preference Scales for Couple Therapy (EPSCT). Three self-report scales assess clients' Outcome expectations (e.g., I expect our relationship to improve as a result of couple therapy) and role expectations for Self (e.g., I expect to listen to my partner's concerns) and Partner (e.g., I expect my partner to blame me). Three Cognitive-Behavioral, Emotionally Focused, and Family Systems preference scales use a forced-choice format to measure the comparative strength of respondents' preferences for interventions broadly reflective of each approach. A large item pool was developed from relevant literature and clinical experience and refined based on face and content analyses with two panels of experienced couple therapists and researchers. Across four studies with 1,175 participants, the scales' internal consistency reliabilities were similar and their construct validity was supported with confirmatory factor analyses and significant correlations with several established measures, including expectation measures developed for individual psychotherapy and measures of attitudes toward professional help seeking and valuing personal growth. Across all studies, participants had stronger role expectations for themselves than their partners, although gender effects differed by sample. We discuss how to use the 15-item EPSCT in clinical practice and in future research as a predictor of couple therapy processes and outcomes.

Aunque se sabe que los factores de los clientes representan la mayor parte de la variación en los resultados a través de las modalidades de tratamiento diversas, no se sabe mucho acerca de cómo las características de los clientes afectan el proceso y efectividad de la terapia de pareja. Para avanzar el conocimiento en este campo, hemos creado una breve medida favorable a la práctica, las Escalas de expectativas y preferencias para terapia de pareja (EPSCT en inglés). Tres escalas de autoinforme evalúan las expectativas de resultados de los clientes (p.ej. Espero que nuestra relación mejore como resultado de la terapia de pareja) y las expectativas de roles para sí mismo (p.ej. Espero escuchar las preocupaciones de mi pareja) y para la pareja (p.ej. Espero que mi pareja me culpe). Tres escalas de preferencias cognitivo-conductiva, enfocada en emociones y de sistemas familiares emplean un formato de elección forzada para medir la fortaleza comparativa de las preferencias de los interrogados por intervenciones que reflejan cada enfoque a grandes rasgos. Se elaboró un conjunto amplio de ítems a partir de la literatura y experiencia clínica pertinentes y se refinó a base de análisis de apariencia y contenido con dos paneles de terapistas de pareja e investigadores experimentados. En la totalidad de cuatro estudios con 1175 participantes, las fiabilidades de coherencias internas fueron similares y su validez de constructo fue respaldada por análisis factoriales confirmatorios y correlaciones significativas con varias medidas ya establecidas, incluyendo medidas de expectativas desarrolladas para psicoterapias individuales y medidas de actitudes hacia la búsqueda de ayuda profesional y la valoración del crecimiento personal. En todos los estudios, los participantes mostraron expectativas de roles más fuertes para sí mismos que para sus parejas, aunque hubo diferencias en los efectos de género por muestra. Discutimos cómo usar el EPSCT con sus 15 ítems en la práctica clínica e investigaciones futuras como predictor de procesos y resultados de la terapia de pareja.

Smart sensory materials for divalent cations: a dithizone immobilized membrane for optical analysis.

An optode for Cu(ii), Cd(ii), Zn(ii) and Hg(ii) sensing has been designed by immobilization of dithizone on a triacetylcellulose membrane (mem-DTZ). The sorption of the metal ions on the mem-DTZ has been thoroughly characterized, in particular sorption kinetics, sorption isotherms and profiles as a function of the pH have been studied. Methods to assess the concentrations of the cations, both individually and in a mixture, in unknown samples, have been developed. In particular, UV-vis spectra and digital information of pictures taken by using a common desktop scanner, of the mem-DTZ sensor after equilibration with different solutions, were acquired and they were correlated with the concentration of the metal ions in solutions. For the single analyte determination, the RGB parameters of the pictures were subjected to Principal Component Analysis (PCA); otherwise the UV-vis spectra of a mixture of two cations were elaborated by Partial Least Squares (PLS) Regression. The membrane responds to the divalent cations by changing colour reversibly. The response time of the mem-DTZ is about 1 h for Cd(ii), Hg(ii) and Zn(ii), but longer for Cu(ii): more than 10 h are required. The linear interval is in the range of about 10-7 to 10-5 M for all metal ions. The limit of detection (LOD) is around 10-6 M for Cu(ii), Cd(ii) and Hg(ii); for Zn(ii) a lower LOD of 10-7 M is obtained. The applicability of mem-DTZ to real samples has been proved by analysis of the four metal cations in a certificate material (Sewage Sludge CC136A), white wine, and drinking water samples.