The structure of Yalom's Curative Factors Scale

Abstract

Factor analysis was used to evaluate the short form of Yalom's Curative Factors Scale with data from 372 participants in the 1986 American Group Psychotherapy Association Institute Groups. With the data randomly assigned to three subgroups, results showed 10 scale items loading on three factors across all three subgroups. When the data was organized into two self- selected subgroups corresponding to the two Institute group categories, factor analyses showed the first factor to be consistent with the previous analyses, but other factors showed differences interpreted to be characteristic of the two groups' modalities. The study suggests a framework for understanding the concept of therapeutic factors and how they work together.