This analysis assessed the hypothesis that a relation between adjustment prior to treatment and client outcome, based on documented theoretical observations about similar relationships between clients' expectations and subsequent adjustment after therapeutic counseling, is curvilinear. A sample of 77 outpatients at a University-affiliated hospital completed self-assessments using standardized adjustment scales. There was no curvilinear relationship between prior adjustment and outcome, but a linear relationship between expectation and self-assessed outcome was observed.
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