Countertransference Feelings when Treating Teenagers. A Psychometric Evaluation of the Feeling Word Checklist–24

The Feeling Word Checklist–24 (FWC–24) is a self–report questionnaire comprising 24 feeling words measuring therapists’ emotional reactions towards patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties in FWC–24in individual therapy with adolescents. Therapists (N = 41) in four outpatient clinics filled in the FWC–24 (N = 410) after each session with a teenage client (age range 13 to 18 years). We examined whether an underlying factor structure exists in FWC–24. We also sought to validate the factor structure by exploring the correlation between the factors, therapist variables, and alliance.

The factor analysis revealed four meaningful clinical factors (named Confident, Inadequate, Disengaged, and Neutral), which explained 63% of the variances. These factors showed conceptual similarities with factors found in other studies. The factors differed in correlation with therapist factors and alliance, and might be useful in further research.