Volume_4_Issue_4_Digest

TPC D igest 67 The Relationship Between Socioeconomic Status and Counseling Outcomes – DIGEST Lisa D. Hawley Todd W. Leibert Joel A. Lane Lisa D. Hawley and Todd W. Leibert, NCC, are associate professors at Oakland University. Joel A. Lane, NCC, is an assistant professor at Portland State University. Correspondence can be addressed to Lisa D. Hawley, 435F Pawley Hall, Oakland University, Rochester, MI 48309-4401, Hawley@oakland.edu. W hile the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and mental health is well documented, SES is not well represented in mental health counseling literature, especially outcome research. To respond to this shortcoming, we investigated potential links between SES and counseling outcome. To do so, they examined various indices of SES (e.g., household income) and the degree to which they predicted positive changes in symptom checklists between the first and last sessions for a sample of clients ( N = 49) at a university counseling center. Because contemporary SES researchers have stressed the importance of perceptions regarding SES, we examined SES using both objective (e.g., household income, educational attainment, health insurance status) and subjective (e.g., perceived financial security, perceived SES) indices. They also explored whether SES predicted three factors that are known to facilitate positive change in counseling: client motivation, treatment expectancy and social support. The participants of the study included 49 adult clients who had started counseling at an on-campus university training center. The center was staffed by students enrolled in a CACREP-accredited counseling program. Prior to their first sessions, clients completed survey packets assessing SES, motivation for counseling, treatment expectancy and social support. At the beginning of each session, clients completed a brief symptoms checklist called the Outcome Questionnaire-45.2 (OQ). To measure client change, the researchers compared first- and final-session OQ scores for each client. Overall, SES was not related to motivation, treatment expectancy or social support. The only significant relationship revealed was between perceived financial security