Utility of the five-factor model of personality in psychotherapy aptitude-treatment interaction research

Clinical researchers fur years have recognized the need for psychotherapy research that considers the interaction between patient variables and treatment interventions. One of the major impediments to this research effort is the lack of a comprehensive; personality taxonomy that can be systematically used to define and organize trait variables. The five-factor model of personality has recently emerged as a comprehensive yet parsimonious representation of trait descriptors. The five-factor model can be used in aptitude-treatment interaction research as a conceptual reference point by which various constructs are defined and differentiated. Further, the five-factor model itself can be used to assess theoretically relevant aptitude variables that may differentially respond to divergent treatments. The specific applications of the five-factor model in aptitude-treatment interaction research:are presented.