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Cognitive Mediators Between Patients' Social Class and Therapists' Evaluations
Barbara Noel Dowds, MA;
Alan F. Fontana, PhD;
L. Mark Russakoff, MD;
Maxine Harris, PhD
Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1977;34(8):917-920.
Abstract
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• Previous research has shown that therapists are more likely to accept middle-class than lower-class persons for psychotherapy and to rate middle-class patients more favorably than lower-class patients. One explanation that has been offered is that lower-class patients may not conceptualize their experiences in a manner compatible with traditional kinds of therapy. This study investigated several cognitive variables that could theoretically serve as mediators between patients' social class and therapists' differential evaluations—specifically, verbal intelligence, psychological differentiation, and locus of control. Therapists evaluated patients after the initial therapy session. Results indicated that psychological differentiation was a mediator for therapists' judgments of both patients' desire for structure and their suitability for psychotherapy. Similarly, a locus of control orientation emphasizing the role of chance functioned as a mediator of therapists' judgments of suitability.
Author Affiliations
From the Veterans Administration Hospital, West Haven, Conn (Ms Dowds and Drs Fontana, Russakoff, and Harris) and the Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn (Dr Fontana). Dr Russakoff is now with the Naval Regional Medical Center, Great Lakes, Ill. Dr Harris is now with St Elizabeths Hospital, Washington, DC.
Footnotes
Accepted for publication April 19, 1976.
Reprint requests to Psychology Service, Veterans Administration Hospital, West Haven, CT 06516 (Ms Dowds).
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