Development of the Therapy Procedures Checklist: a therapist-report measure of technique use in child and adolescent treatment.

Evaluated the psychometric properties of the Therapy Procedures Checklist (TPC). The TPC was developed to assess therapists' reports of the techniques they employ when working with child and adolescent clients. TPC items encompass the 3 most common therapeutic models for youth: psychodynamic, cognitive, and behavioral. In a survey of youth therapy experts, TPC items had good content validity for these dimensions. Factor analyses of TPC reports from 274 therapists produced the same 3-factor structure. TPC scales had good internal consistency (all alpha > .86) and test-retest reliability (all r > .79) across samples. In a sample of practicing therapists, TPC scales were sensitive to within-therapist changes in technique use and revealed that therapists increased their use of behavioral techniques with young, externalizing child clients. The findings suggest the TPC may be a psychometrically sound measure and a useful assessment tool in youth therapy research.