Evaluation of the Stages of Change Scales to measure client readiness for treatment in a mental health sample

The psychometric properties of the Stages of Change scales (McConnaughy, Prochaska, & Velicer, 1983) were examined in a clinical sample of clients referred for psychotherapy. Sixty clients completed the Stages of Change scales and the Brief Symptoms Inventory before their first session of psychotherapy. The scales means, standard deviations and high internal consistency (all coefficients exceeding 0.7) compared favourably with previous research conducted by McConnaughy et al. (1983, 1989). The study investigates two methods of interpreting the Stages of Change scales. It discusses the methodological limitations in interpreting the highest scale score, and recommends instead the interpretation of the samples mean scores for the scales. It further assesses the theoretical underpinnings of the scales intercorrelations and argues in support of the “states” of change model proposed by Sutton (1996).