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<p>Personality traits are important factors of psychotherapy for many reasons, as they relate
to a variety of clinical outcomes, can complicate treatment, and can also be targets of treatment
interventions. Because of its clinical prevalence and impact, it is imperative that therapists are able
to effectively assess and treat personality pathology. Previous research has indicated that both
client and therapist ratings of personality can provide meaningful information, and this varies
across different sessions, but no study to date has examined both client and therapist ratings across
the entire therapeutic intervention. There is also limited information on the agreement of client and
therapist ratings of personality, as the majority of studies only examine the outset, the end, or a
random time point of treatment. Examining only one point in time – or just the beginning and end
– misses valuable information regarding possible changes in personality occurring throughout
treatment. Using a naturalistic dataset of 128 client-therapist dyads (3,440 observations), the
present study examined the longitudinal trajectory of client and therapist ratings of personality
change throughout intervention while also accounting for state-level distress. Additionally, the
agreement between clients and therapists were examined throughout treatment for any potential
patterns of change using rank-order, mean-level, and absolute agreement. Significant patterns of
trait change and change in absolute agreement across treatment were assessed using multilevel
modeling. Last but not least, the agreement among clients and therapists were examined as
potential predictors of therapeutic outcomes, such as engagement and improvement. The results
provided evidence for significant decreases in neuroticism that were reported by the client but not
therapist that suggest clients might be report decreases in state-level distress rather than true trait
change. There were meaningful fluctuations in agreement across treatment, particularly for
openness to experience and neuroticism, but the overall agreement – or lack thereof – did not
significantly predict client engagement or improvement. Results highlight several clinical
implications that are discussed. </p>
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| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:purdue.edu/oai:figshare.com:article/15061635 |
| Date | 28 July 2021 |
| Creators | Meredith A Bucher (11166732) |
| Source Sets | Purdue University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis |
| Rights | CC BY 4.0 |
| Relation | https://figshare.com/articles/thesis/The_longitudinal_trajectory_and_client-therapist_agreement_of_personality_traits_over_the_course_of_therapy/15061635 |
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