A Psychoanalytical Perspective on the Co-therapeutic Relationship With a Group of Siblings of Children With Autism: An Observational Study of Communicative Behavior Patterns

Measuring Changes in Social Skills Throughout an Intervention Program for Children with ASD, Contributions from Polar Coordinate Analysis

The demand of social skills interventions for people with ASD has grown in recent years. The main goal of this research was to study social skills: "responding to interaction" and "initiating interaction", and to capture whether there were differences between an initial and a final session in a program for children with ASD. Additionally, we aimed to compare social skills patterns according to the VIQ level. The sample (N = 20) was divided into 2 subgroups depending on whether the VIQ was > 90 or < 90. We employed a mixed methods approach based on a systematic observation of social behaviors. The observational design was nomothetic, follow-up, and multidimensional. Once we confirmed inter-observer reliability for the ad hoc observational instrument we performed descriptive statistics and polar coordinate analysis using LINCE software. The results show high intragroup and intergroup variability. In general, participants with VIQ < 90 showed a better improvement in responding to interaction, whereas participants with VIQ > 90 showed more complex patterns to initiate interactions. The polar coordinate technique was useful for detecting significant relationships between autism's social micro-behaviors. Results and information obtained through observational methodology could allow professionals to understand communication and interaction of participants.

Future horizons in the analysis of technical-tactical performance in women's football: a mixed methods approach to the analysis of in-depth interviews with professional coaches and players

Introduction

Scientific knowledge about the criteria that determine success in women's football is beginning to develop.

Methods

This study was carried out with the aim of detecting regularities in the offensive success in elite women's football, as well as carrying out an interrelational analysis of linked behaviors, based on in-depth interviews with professional coaches and players. Eight in-depth interviews were conducted with professional Spanish coaches and players. The interviews were analyzed by indirect observation from a process of "quantitizing," through the construction of an indirect observation ad hoc instrument. The segmentation of the transcription of the interviews was carried out in textual units, and the creation of a matrix of codes. Two types of analysis were performed: first, a lag sequential analysis (LSA) was performed and, then, a polar coordinates analysis (PCA), which allowed to find, respectively, a wide number of established communicative patterns with offensive performance in women's football, as well as an interrelational map between the established codes.

Results

The results obtained allowed us to suggest a statistically significant association between success in women's football and criteria such as the physical characteristics of a particular player, the individual action space, the duration of the attack, the type of dynamic start, individual and collective technical and tactical aspects, decision making and the type of attack used.

Discussion

Based on these results, the influence of these criteria on performance in women's soccer can be studied in future studies. In addition, with the aim of increasing the validity of these conclusions, new studies on this subject may be carried out following strategies such as the Delphi Method.

A Mixed Methods Framework for Psychoanalytic Group Therapy: From Qualitative Records to a Quantitative Approach Using T-Pattern, Lag Sequential, and Polar Coordinate Analyses

Conducted within a mixed methods framework, this study focuses on the conversation-facilitation role of a lead therapist during group psychotherapy with adolescents. Conversation is an essential component of psychoanalytic psychotherapies and there is growing interest in describing and studying the impact of conversational techniques. One way to do this is to report on specific approaches, such as questioning, paraphrasing, and mentalization in intervention turns and to analyze their impact on the therapist-patient relationship. The main aim of this study was to investigate differences in communication strategies used by a lead therapist in the early and late stages of therapy with six adolescents aged 13-15 years. We employed a mixed methods design based on systematic direct observation supplemented by indirect observation. The observational methodology design was nomothetic, follow-up, and multidimensional. The choice of methodology is justified by our use of an ad hoc observation instrument for communication strategies combining a field format and a category system. We analyzed interobserver agreement quantitatively by Cohen's kappa using GSEQ5 software. Following confirmation of the reliability of the data, we analyzed the lead therapist's conversation-facilitation techniques in sessions 5 and 29 of a 30-session program by quantitatively analyzing what were initially qualitative data using T-pattern detection (THEME v.6 Edu software), lag sequential analysis (GSEQ5 software), and polar coordinate analysis (HOISAN v. 1.6.3.3.6. software and R software). The results show changes in the techniques used from the start to the end of therapy. Of the 28 communication strategies analyzed, three were particularly common: questioning and paraphrasing in session 5 and questioning and mentalization in session 29. This mixed methods study shows that combined use of T-pattern detection, lag sequential analysis, and polar coordinate analysis can offer meaningful and objective insights into group psychotherapy through the lens of the therapist.

The Action of Verbal and Non-verbal Communication in the Therapeutic Alliance Construction: A Mixed Methods Approach to Assess the Initial Interactions With Depressed Patients

In psychodynamic psychotherapy, verbal (structures and intents) and non-verbal (voice and interruptions) dimensions of communication intertwine conveying information and determining the mutual regulation between therapist and patient through conversational sequences. The communication components interplay is the foundation for building the therapeutic alliance, a relational dimension that predicts a psychotherapy outcome and change, influenced by patient-therapist exchanges from the initial stages of their encounter. Depressed patients present specific verbal and non-verbal communication and show difficulties in developing and maintaining the therapeutic alliance. Based on the reviewed literature, the main aim of this study was to analyze how the action of specific communicative modes, implemented by the therapist and depressed patients, affect the reciprocal construction of the early therapeutic alliance by each participant during the mutual regulation processes. We employed a mixed methods approach based on a systematic observation of communication and alliance ruptures and repairs within the audio recordings and verbatim transcripts of 20 psychotherapy sessions (6,232 speaking turns) with seven depressed patients. The observational design was nomothetic, follow-up, and multidimensional. The choice of methodology is justified because we developed a comprehensive procedure that integrates an ad hoc indirect observation system (the Communicative Modes Analysis System in Psychotherapy), analyzing verbal and non-verbal communication, and an observational tool with deductive categories (the Collaborative Interactions Scale-Revised), assessing the therapeutic alliance construction. Once we confirmed the intra-and inter-observer reliability for the ad hoc system and the inter-rater reliability for the tool with deductive (or theoretical) categories, we performed descriptive statistics (to describe quantitatively communicative modes and alliance ruptures and repairs), lag sequential analysis (to detect stable patterns in communication-alliance interactions), and polar coordinate analysis (to identify significant relationships between communicative modes and alliance ruptures and repairs). Results confirm that the therapist's verbal (asking and exploring) and non-verbal (elaborating and cooperatively interrupting) modes and the depressed patients' verbal (asserting and exploring) and non-verbal (expressing emotions and cooperatively interrupting) modes determine stable patterns and significant associations with collaborative behaviors connected to the reciprocal construction of alliance by each participant. All this may provide professionals with useful information to increase the psychotherapy effectiveness with depressed patients.