TY  - JOUR
A1  - Maaß, Ulrike
A1  - Kühne, Franziska
A1  - Heinze, Peter Eric
A1  - Ay-Bryson, Destina Sevde
A1  - Weck, Florian
T1  - The concise measurement of clinical communication skills
BT  - Validation of a short scale
JF  - Frontiers in Psychiatry
N2  - Objective: There is a lack of brief rating scales for the reliable assessment of psychotherapeutic skills, which do not require intensive rater training and/or a high level of expertise. Thus, the objective is to validate a 14-item version of the Clinical Communication Skills Scale (CCSS-S).

Methods: Using a sample of N = 690 video-based ratings of role-plays with simulated patients, we calculated a confirmatory factor analysis and an exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM), assessed convergent validities, determined inter-rater reliabilities and compared these with those who were either psychology students, advanced psychotherapy trainees, or experts.

Results: Correlations with other competence rating scales were high (rs > 0.86–0.89). The intraclass correlations ranged between moderate and good [ICC(2,2) = 0.65–0.80], with student raters yielding the lowest scores. The one-factor model only marginally replicated the data, but the internal consistencies were excellent (α = 0.91–95). The ESEM yielded a two-factor solution (Collaboration and Structuring and Exploration Skills).

Conclusion: The CCSS-S is a brief and valid rating scale that reliably assesses basic communication skills, which is particularly useful for psychotherapy training using standardized role-plays. To ensure good inter-rater reliabilities, it is still advisable to employ raters with at least some clinical experience. Future studies should further investigate the one- or two-factor structure of the instrument.
KW  - standardized patient
KW  - treatment integrity
KW  - measurement
KW  - therapist competence
KW  - role-play
KW  - psychotherapy process
Y1  - 2022
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.977324
SN  - 1664-0640
VL  - 13
PB  - Frontiers
CY  - Lausanne, Schweiz
ER  -