Trial reportBehaviour research and therapy2014
Only connect: The working alliance in computer-based cognitive behavioral therapy.
Trial report in Behaviour research and therapy, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 47 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
47 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Digitally Delivered Cognitive Behavioral Interventions for Alcohol and Other Drug Use: Meta-Analysis Across Consumption and Psychosocial Outcomes.JMIR mental health · 2026Pooled it
- Psychosocial interventions for stimulant use disorder.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- User Experience and Therapeutic Alliance of Treatment Completers of Clinician-Supported Versus Self-Help Online Intervention for Eating Disorders: A Mixed Methods Approach.European eating disorders review : the journal of the Eating Disorders Association · 2025Trial
- Improvement in coping skills from culturally-adapted digital CBT for Spanish-speaking Hispanics with substance use disorder: Secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2025Trial
- Association Between User Interaction and Treatment Response of a Voice-Based Coach for Treating Depression and Anxiety: Secondary Analysis of a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR human factors · 2023Trial
- Alliance With an Unguided Smartphone App: Validation of the Digital Working Alliance Inventory.Assessment · 2022Trial
- The Effects of Health Care Chatbot Personas With Different Social Roles on the Client-Chatbot Bond and Usage Intentions: Development of a Design Codebook and Web-Based Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2022Trial
- CANreduce 2.0 Adherence-Focused Guidance for Internet Self-Help Among Cannabis Users: Three-Arm Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2021Trial
- A Smartphone-Based Health Care Chatbot to Promote Self-Management of Chronic Pain (SELMA): Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2020Trial
- The Association of Therapeutic Alliance With Long-Term Outcome in a Guided Internet Intervention for Depression: Secondary Analysis From a Randomized Control Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2020Trial
- Comparing satisfaction, alliance and intervention components in electronically delivered and in-person brief interventions for substance use among childbearing-aged women.Journal of substance abuse treatment · 2019Trial
- Differences in motivation and adherence to a prescribed assignment after face-to-face and online psychoeducation: an experimental study.BMC psychology · 2017Trial
- Randomized Trial of Computerized Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Alcohol Use Disorders: Efficacy as a Virtual Stand-Alone and Treatment Add-On Compared with Standard Outpatient Treatment.Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research · 2016Trial
- Alexithymia level and response to computer-based training in cognitive behavioral therapy among cocaine-dependent methadone maintained individuals.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2015Trial
- Possible Role and Function of AI Conversational Agents in Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Borderline Personality Disorder: Qualitative Interview Study.JMIR mental health · 2026Article
- Study of a PST-trained voice-enabled artificial intelligence counselor for adults with emotional distress (SPEAC-2): Design and methods.Contemporary clinical trials · 2024Article
- Evidence for Bidirectional, Cross-Lagged Associations Between Alliance and Psychological Distress in an Unguided Mobile-Health Intervention.Clinical psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science · 2024Article
- Working alliance and its link to guidance in an internet-based intervention for depressive disorders: a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
- The connection still matters: Therapeutic alliance with digital treatment for alcohol use disorder.Alcohol, clinical & experimental research · 2023Article
- Can digital health researchers make a difference during the pandemic? Results of the single-arm, chatbot-led Elena+: Care for COVID-19 interventional study.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The limited role of therapists in some technology-based interventions raises questions as to whether clients may develop a 'working alliance' with the program, and the impact on relationships with a therapist and/or treatment outcomes. In this study, the Working Alliance Inventory (WAI), and an adapted version for technology-based interventions (WAI-Tech), were administered within a subsample (n = 66) of cocaine-dependent individuals participating in a randomized trial evaluating the efficacy of Computer-Based Training for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT4CBT) as an adjunct to treatment as usual (TAU). Results suggest the WAI-Tech has relatively similar psychometric characteristics as the standard WAI; however the 'bond' subscale scores were lower on the WAI-Tech [F(1,52) = 5.78, p < .05]. Scores on the WAI-Tech were not associated with cocaine use outcomes, whereas total scores on the WAI for those assigned to TAU were associated with the percentage of days abstinent from cocaine (r = .43, p < .05). There was little evidence that adding a technology-based intervention adversely affected the working alliance with a therapist in this sample. These preliminary findings suggest some concepts of working alliance may apply to computer-based CBT, yet the function of the alliance may be different in technology-based interventions than in face-to-face psychotherapies.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.