Psychological assessment as a protective factor against treatment dropout in psychoanalytic child psychotherapy of children: Empirical data

Abstract

Psychological assessment can provide important information on patient's symptoms, personality, diagnosis and prognosis assisting in the development of therapeutic strategies. This retrospective cohort study aimed to determine whether there is association between performing a psychological assessment prior to psychotherapy and keeping the treatment. Medical records of 2,106 children seen in two outpatient mental health clinics in Porto Alegre were analyzed. Children who had undergone psychological assessment before starting psychotherapy were 65% more likely to adhere to the treatment and 44% less likely to drop it out than were children who had not been assessed. Psychological assessment helps parents understand their children's treatment, making it a less coercive process and provides a more concrete foundation for the otherwise subjective psychotherapeutic process.