A-B therapist distinction, patient diagnosis, and outcome of brief psychotherapy in a college clinic

Prior studies suggest that therapists' A-B status (types catagorized by the Whitehorn-Betz A-B scale) interacts with patient diagnosis in determining the outcome of psychotherapy (A > B with schizophrenics, B > A with neurotics). To discern whether the hypothesis would apply to brief psychotherapy in a college clinic, the "outcomes" obtained by 3 A and 3 B therapists with their schizoid and neurotic patients (N = 57) were examined in a 2 * 2 factorial design. Analysis of 3 dependent measures based on therapists' and patients' posttherapy ratings reveal considerable support for the hypothesis, particularly for therapists' appraisals of their own effectiveness (interaction, p < .02). B therapists obtained much lower improvement and rapport ratings from schizoid than neurotic patients, whereas A therapists obtained satisfactory results from both groups. The interaction hypothesis characterized A-B performance differences better than an alternate "prognostic" hypothesis tested via the inclusion of 2 additional diagnostic categories (adjustment reaction and passive-aggressive personality). (33 ref.)