Symposia
Cognitive Science/ Cognitive Processes
Nicole B. Gumport, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Stanford University
Stanford, California
Garret Zieve, M.A.
Graduate Student
University of California, Berkeley
Oakland, California
Lu Dong, Ph.D.
Associate Behavioral and Social Scientist
RAND Corporation
Santa Monica, California
Allison G. Harvey, Ph.D.
Professor
University of California, Berkeley
BERKELEY, California
Patient memory for the contents of treatment is staggeringly poor, and poor memory for treatment is associated with worse treatment outcome. Accordingly, the Memory Support Intervention was developed to improve patient memory for treatment as an adjunct to treatment as usual. As plans to disseminate the Memory Support Intervention are developed, it is important to have efficient, accurate methods for measuring fidelity to the intervention. Treatment fidelity is essential in order to check if patients receive adequate doses of treatment and to enhance our theoretical understanding of how psychosocial treatments work. However, the existing method for assessing fidelity to the Memory Support Intervention, the Memory Support Rating Scale (MSRS), is burdensome and requires trained independent-raters to spend multiple hours reviewing session recordings, which is not feasible in many routine care settings. Hence, a provider-rated measure of fidelity to the MSI has been developed. The goal of this study is to examine the reliability and validity of scores on this measure – the Memory Support Treatment Provider Checklist. A sample of Memory Support Treatment Provider Checklists (N = 319) were completed by providers (N = 8) treating adults with depression (N = 84). Three metrics of the Memory Support Treatment Provider Checklist were evaluated: (1) the internal consistency and structural validity using confirmatory factor analysis based on prior research on the MSRS and the Memory Support Intervention, (2) construct validity, and (3) predictive validity. A confirmatory factor analysis supported a two-factor model. Memory Support Treatment Provider Checklist scores were positively associated with MSRS scores (r = 0.18-0.52, p = 0.00-0.17), demonstrating convergent validity. Memory Support Treatment Provider Checklist scores were positively associated with a free recall task (r = 0.15-0.27, p = 0.00-0.01), demonstrating predictive validity. Results indicate that this checklist yields reliable and valid scores of fidelity to the Memory Support Intervention. Overall, this checklist offers a viable, brief method of evaluating fidelity to the Memory Support Intervention.