Development and Initial Psychometrics for a Therapist Competence Instrument for CBT for Youth Anxiety

Therapist competence is an important component of treatment integrity. This article reports on the development and initial psychometric assessment of the Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment for Anxiety in Youth Competence Scale (CBAY-C), an observational instrument designed to capture therapist limited-domain competence (i.e., competence in the delivery of core interventions and delivery methods found in a specific psychosocial treatment program) in the delivery of the core practice elements in individual cognitive-behavioral treatment (ICBT) for youth anxiety. Treatment sessions (N = 744) from 68 youth participants (M age = 10.60 years, SD = 2.03; 82.3% Caucasian; 52.9% male) of the same ICBT program for youth anxiety from (a) an efficacy study and (b) an effectiveness study were independently scored by 4 coders using observational instruments designed to assess therapist competence, treatment adherence, treatment differentiation, alliance, and client involvement. Interrater reliability—intraclass correlation...