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Adolescent attendance at transcultural psychotherapy: a retrospective cohort study

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Abstract

Migrant adolescents in therapy for psychological problems are at risk of poor attendance or even of dropping out. Transcultural psychotherapy has been developed in France to take cultural diversity into account in psychological treatment and to deal with the specific difficulties encountered in the psychotherapeutic treatment of this population. This study aims to assess adolescents’ attendance rates to this form of psychotherapy and to explore the association of these rates with demographic, cultural, and clinical variables. We conducted a retrospective clinical cohort study of 148 adolescents aged from 11 to 20 years treated between 2008 and 2018 at two transcultural psychotherapy centers in Paris. Statistical analyses tested demographic, cultural, and clinical hypotheses. The main result was the high attendance rate at transcultural psychotherapy sessions among adolescents (77.8%). Attendance rates were not associated with age, gender, family size, generation of migration, or cultural area of origin, but were significantly linked to support in therapy, specifically, the presence at the first transcultural psychotherapy session of the first-line therapist, an interpreter, or both. Transcultural psychotherapy appears to be an effective method for addressing the complex symptoms experienced by migrant adolescents. Better attendance at sessions is statistically significantly associated with factors favoring a therapeutic alliance, specifically, the presence of the first-line therapist or an interpreter in TPT sessions and the existence of support from a social worker. The holistic approach of transcultural psychotherapy to adolescent care may explain the high attendance rates observed.

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Acknowledgements

We thank all the investigators of the study—Hawa CAMARA, Nelly MASSARI, Roberta FRANCHITTI, Sann-Fou MAO, Tony ROY EDWARD, Laura CARBALLEIRA CARRERA, Jeanne-Flore ROUCHON, and Marie Rose MORO –as well as Madeleine GUILEE and Floriane CRINE, our invaluable medical archivists and secretary, Jo Ann CAHN for the translation, and all the therapists and trainees from five transcultural consultations.

Funding

No funding source to declare.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. AP-HP, Cochin Hospital, Maison de Solenn, 75014, Paris, France

    Andrea Diaz Maldonado, Amalini Simon & Marie Rose Moro

  2. Université de Paris, PCPP, 92100, Boulogne-Billancourt, France

    Andrea Diaz Maldonado, Amalini Simon & Marie Rose Moro

  3. Fac. de Médecine - Univ. Paris-Sud, Fac. de Médecine - UVSQ, CESP, INSERM, Université Paris-Saclay, 94807, Villejuif, France

    Amalini Simon, Caroline Barry, Christine Hassler, Marie Rose Moro & Jonathan Lachal

  4. Assistance publique–Hôpitaux de Paris (AP–HP), Université de Paris 13, Hôpital Avicenne, service de psychopathologie, 3413, 93009, Bobigny cedex, EA, France

    Amalini Simon

  5. Centre Hospitalier de Niort, Unité Pour Adolescent, 79000, Niort, France

    Adrien Lenjalley

  6. Groupe Hospitalier Littoral Atlantique, Service de pédopsychiatrie, 17019, La Rochelle, France

    Carole Giacobi

  7. CHU de Clermont-Ferrand, Service de Psychiatrie de L’Enfant Et de L’Adolescent, 63000, Clermont-Ferrand, France

    Jonathan Lachal

  8. Université Clermont Auvergne, 63000, Clermont-Ferrand, France

    Jonathan Lachal

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  1. Andrea Diaz Maldonado
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  2. Amalini Simon
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  3. Caroline Barry
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  5. Adrien Lenjalley
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  6. Carole Giacobi
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  7. Marie Rose Moro
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  8. Jonathan Lachal
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Contributions

ADM, AS, CB, CH, MRM, and JL: Conceived and designed the experiments. ADM, AL, CG, and JL: Conducted the literature review. ADM, AS, CB, CH, AL, CG, and JL: Performed the experiments. Wrote the paper: ADM, AS, MRM and JL: the entire paper; CB and CH: method and results; AL and CG: results and discussion. ADM, AS, CB, CH, AL, CG, MRM, and JL: Final approval. All authors had full access to all of the data in the study and take responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis. The manuscript is an honest, accurate, and transparent account of the study being reported; no important aspects of the study have been omitted; any discrepancies from the study as planned have been explained.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jonathan Lachal.

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Conflict of interest

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

The study was conducted according to the principles expressed in the MR-004 and approved by the National Commission for Informatics and Personal Liberties (‘Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés’, CNIL).

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Diaz Maldonado, A., Simon, A., Barry, C. et al. Adolescent attendance at transcultural psychotherapy: a retrospective cohort study. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 31, 1–8 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-021-01760-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-021-01760-3

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