PATIENT SWAP-200 PERSONALITY DIMENSIONS AND FFM TRAITS: DO THEY PREDICT THERAPIST EMOTIONAL RESPONSES?

Therapist’s emotional responses to the patient (or countertransference) can inform diagnostic assessment, as well as plays a crucial role in the psychotherapy process and outcome across different models of treatment. The main aim of this study was to examine the relationship between therapists’ responses and patients’ personality evaluated by three dimensional diagnostic approaches empirically derived from the Shedler-Westen Assessment Procedure-200 (SWAP-200; Westen, Shedler, 1999a, b): Two of these rely on the five-factor model (FFM) domains, that were assessed with different SWAP-200 FFM versions developed by Shedler and Westen (SW-FFM scales; 2004) and McCrae, Löckenhoff, and Costa (MLC-FFM scales; 2005); the third approach is based on a multifaceted model of personality syndromes (SWAP personality dimension scales; Shedler, Westen, 2004). A national sample of psychiatrists and psychologists (N = 166) of various theoretical orientations completed the Therapist Response Questionnaire (TRQ; Zittel Conklin, Westen, 2003) to identify patterns of therapist response, and the SWAP-200 to assess personality regarding a patient currently in their care. The findings showed good levels of construct validity between the SW-FFM and MLC-FFM scales, with the exception of openness. Moreover, specific SW-FFM and MLC-FFM scales were significantly associated with distinct SWAP personality dimension scales according in a conceptually meaningful nomological network. While there were some significant relationships between therapists’ responses and patients’ personality features, overall the contribution of the SW-FFM and MLC-FFM traits in predicting therapists’ responses were smaller than the SWAP personality dimensions. These results seem to confirm the diagnostic and therapeutic value of countertransference as an essential tool in understanding psychological traits/dimensions that underlie the patients’ psychopathology, and in helping therapists in everyday clinical practice.