Perspectives on Engaging Families: Three Confirmatory Factor Analyses of the Working Alliance Inventory (WAI) in Child Protection Social Work Services in the United Kingdom

Background/Purpose: The quality of the therapeutic relationship between the practitioner and client remains a widely studied element of positive therapeutic outcomes. Adapted from Bordin’s seminal conceptualization (1979; 1994) of therapeutic alliance, the Working Alliance Inventory (WAI; Horvath & Greenberg, 1989) is a widely used measure of the quality of this therapeutic relationship. Despite the frequent use of the WAI in psychological research, few studies in social work have examined these relationships in practice. No prior studies have examined these relationships and use of the WAI in a sample of families, social workers, and trained research observers in child protection services. It is thought that social worker’s ability to engage a family referred for child protection services, though possibly nonvoluntarily, is central to the success of the family and welfare of the children involved. This study examined the reliability and validity of the WAI in child protection services in the United Kingdom.

 

Methods: Data were collected during the first phase of a randomized control trial of child protection services in a local authority in London from December 2012 to December 2013. During the second or third visit, the research team observed a meeting between the parents/carer and the social worker assigned to the case. Researchers later interviewed the parents/carer and requested social workers complete a questionnaire. The WAI short form consists of 12 items and three subscales focusing on jointly agreed upon goals and tasks in the case and the perceived quality of the bond between the worker and family/carer. In this way, data were collected on all three versions of the WAI: WAI-S (client), WAI-T (social worker), and WAI-O (observer). Additionally, the Yatchmenoff Scale (Yatchmenoff, 2005) was completed by the family. This is a four dimension, 19 item measure of client engagement within child protection services. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) were conducted on each version of the WAI, and convergent validity tested using parents/carer scores on the Yatchmenoff Scale.

Results: Data were collected from 130 family interviews, and researchers observed 165 home visits. Social workers completed questionnaires on 274 cases. A small amount of missing data was found (<3%) and replaced using multiple imputation. WAI reliability scores were excellent on each version of the measure (α=.941 to α=.969 for total scores). CFAs were conducted using AMOS 8.0. WAI scores completed by the family, social worker, and observer each demonstrated moderate to good fit (χ ²/df<2.4, GFI>.90, CFI>.95, TLI>.90, RMSEA<.8) with the original factor model (Kline, 2005). WAI scores from the three versions were significantly intercorrelated with the family/carer reported lower agreement with the scores reported by the social workers and observers. Convergent construct validity was found with each version of the WAI significantly correlated with the Yatchmenoff Scale.

 

Conclusions/Implications: Results demonstrate the use of WAI as an assessment of the quality of the working relationship in child protection social work. Future research into family engagement in child protection social work and related case management services should focus on the working relationship as a predictor of positive outcomes.