SynthesisJournal of consulting and clinical psychology2018
A meta-analysis of motivational interviewing process: Technical, relational, and conditional process models of change.
Synthesis in Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04666831 (Adapted Motivational Interviewing and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Food Addiction), which is not on this map. Cited by 120 papers, 6 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.
Adapted Motivational Interviewing and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Food Addiction: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Who cites it
120 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 315 citations in OpenAlex.
- Motivational interviewing for substance use reduction.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Adapted motivational interviewing for brief healthcare consultations: A systematic review and meta-analysis of treatment fidelity in real-world evaluations of behaviour change counselling.British journal of health psychology · 2023Pooled it
- Cultural adaptations of motivational interviewing: A systematic review.Psychological services · 2023Pooled it
- Motivational interviewing quality assurance: A systematic review of assessment tools across research contexts.Clinical psychology review · 2020Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Multimodal Nutraceutical and Psychological Intervention for GGT Reduction in Individuals with Alcohol Use Disorder.Nutrients · 2026Trial
- Impact of Computer-Mediated Versus Face-to-Face Motivational-Type Interviews on Participants' Language and Subsequent Cannabis Use: Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Trial
- Economic Cost of the HealthCall Smartphone Intervention to Reduce Heavy Alcohol Drinking in Adults With HIV.Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs · 2023Trial
- Change talk subtypes as predictors of alcohol use following brief motivational intervention.Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors · 2023Trial
- A qualitative interview study of patient experiences of receiving motivational enhancement therapy in a Swedish addiction specialist treatment setting.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2023Trial
- The role of the relational context and therapists' technical behaviors in brief motivational interviewing sessions for heavy alcohol consumption: Findings from a sample of Latinx adults.Journal of substance abuse treatment · 2023Trial
- Examining the influence of adolescent:provider alliance on youth hazardous drinking: Findings from a randomized controlled trial.Addictive behaviors · 2023Trial
- Can chatbots help to motivate smoking cessation? A study on the effectiveness of motivational interviewing on engagement and therapeutic alliance.BMC public health · 2022Trial
- What can clients tell us about whether to use motivational interviewing? An analysis of early-session ambivalent language.Journal of substance abuse treatment · 2022Trial
- Differential mechanisms of change in motivational interviewing versus health education for smoking cessation induction.Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors · 2021Trial
- Development of the Motivational Interviewing Coach Rating Scale (MI-CRS) for health equity implementation contexts.Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association · 2021Trial
- Project Khanya: results from a pilot randomized type 1 hybrid effectiveness-implementation trial of a peer-delivered behavioural intervention for ART adherence and substance use in HIV care in South Africa.Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2021Trial
- Randomized controlled trial of group motivational interviewing for veterans with substance use disorders.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2021Trial
- Is fidelity to a complex behaviour change intervention associated with patient outcomes? Exploring the relationship between dietitian adherence and competence and the nutritional status of intervention patients in a successful stepped-wedge randomised clinical trial of eating as treatment (EAT).Implementation science : IS · 2021Trial
60 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveIn the present meta-analysis, we test the technical and relational hypotheses of Motivational Interviewing (MI) efficacy. We also propose an a priori conditional process model where heterogeneity of technical path effect sizes should be explained by interpersonal/relational (i.e., empathy, MI Spirit) and intrapersonal (i.e., client treatment seeking status) moderators.
methodA systematic review identified k = 58 reports, describing 36 primary studies and 40 effect sizes (N = 3,025 participants). Statistical methods calculated the inverse variance-weighted pooled correlation coefficient for the therapist to client and the client to outcome paths across multiple target behaviors (i.e., alcohol use, other drug use, other behavior change).
resultsTherapist MI-consistent skills were correlated with more client change talk (r = .55, p < .001) as well as more sustain talk (r = .40, p < .001). MI-inconsistent skills were correlated with more sustain talk (r = .16, p < .001), but not change talk. When these indicators were combined into proportions, as recommended in the Motivational Interviewing Skill Code, the overall technical hypothesis was supported. Specifically, proportion MI consistency was related to higher proportion change talk (r = .11, p = .004) and higher proportion change talk was related to reductions in risk behavior at follow up (r = -.16, p < .001). When tested as two independent effects, client change talk was not significant, but sustain talk was positively associated with worse outcome (r = .19, p < .001). Finally, the relational hypothesis was not supported, but heterogeneity in technical hypothesis path effect sizes was partially explained by inter- and intrapersonal moderators.
conclusionsThis meta-analysis provides additional support for the technical hypothesis of MI efficacy; future research on the relational hypothesis should occur in the field rather than in the context of clinical trials. (PsycINFO Database Record
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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.