Psychometric properties of an online psychotherapy advantages and disadvantages instrument: Preliminary results of a multi-center pilot study

Abstract

We verified the need for instruments that could assess the perceptions of patients, therapists, and psychotherapy supervisors about online Psychotherapy. Objectives: to Build a scale of advantages and disadvantages of online psychotherapy. Method: A pilot cross-sectional multicenter sample collected from 2020 to 2021 of 129 patients, 20 therapists, and 35 supervisors. We used several analyses. The final scale contained 22 items divided into two domains: advantages and disadvantages. Results: Cronbach's alpha showed good internal consistency (0.88 and 0.85). The scale showed discriminative ability. Convergent validity showed significant correlations between WAI-SR domains (p 〈0,001). The scale showed a good data fit in the confirmatory factor analysis (X² = 255,859; DF = 197; p = .003; CFI = 0.95; RMSEA = 0.047; GFI = 0.84 TLI = 0.94). Conclusion: This pilot study showed that the instrument proved preliminary good psychometric properties but needs to be evaluated in a larger sample.