Personality factors and preferences for therapy: A simulated study among a community sample of adults

This study tested the hypothesis that personality factors are systematically related to choice of therapy for the fairly common problem, of depression. Over 400 adults were asked to imagine that they suffered from depression and to then rate their preferences for 22 “therapies”. They also completed the revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire which measures extraversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism. The results of a principal components analysis showed that therapies can be grouped as cognitive, behavioural, and biological/physical. Further analysis showed that respondents had clear preferences for therapeutic choice. Discriminant function analyses revealed that extraversion and neuroticism were the best predictors of preference for cognitive and behavioural therapies. No personality correlates of biological/physical therapy were noted. These findings are discussed in the light of known differences between personality types and some implications for practice are noted.