The Alliance-Outcome Relation in Internet-Based Interventions for Psychological Disorders: A Correlational Meta-Analysis

Background: The alliance between therapists and patients is one of the most investigated factors of psychotherapy and a robust predictor of treatment outcome in face-to-face interventions. The implementation of internet-based interventions for psychological disorders has become more and more relevant over the past years, particularly in European countries. Regarding the relevance of the alliance for therapy outcome in internet-based interventions, mixed results are reported. The present correlative meta-analysis systematically summarizes the relation between alliance and therapy outcome in internet-based interventions for psychological disorders. Methods: Based on a systematic search, we detected 18 internet-based studies with 23 independent samples (1,177 participants). Results: The omnibus revealed a moderate effect of r = 0.252, p < 0.001, 95% CI [0.19, 0.31]. The analyses of the subscales indicated that the task component (r = 0.28) is slightly more predictive than the bond component (r(bond) = 0.16; QM(3) = 26.85, p < 0.001). These results were homogeneous and none of the investigated moderators indicated significance. Discussion: The present results underline the assumption that the alliance is a robust facilitative factor across mental health treatments. (c) 2019 S. Karger AG, Basel