Therapist characteristics and their effect on training outcomes: what counts?

Evidence exists for a relationship between individual characteristics and both job and training performance; however relationships may not be generalizable. Little is known about the impact of therapist characteristics on performance in postgraduate therapist training programmes.

The aim of this study was to investigate associations between the grades of trainee Low-Intensity and High-Intensity cognitive behavioural therapists and individual characteristics.

Trainee Low-Intensity (n = 81) and High-Intensity (n = 59) therapists completed measures of personality and cognitive ability; demographic and course grade data for participants were collected.

Degree classification emerged as the only variable to be significantly associated with performance across assessments and courses. Higher undergraduate degree classifications were associated with superior academic and clinical performance. Agreeableness was the only dimension of personality to be associated (positively) with clinical skill. Age was weakly and negatively associated with performance.

Relationships between individual characteristics and training outcomes are complex and may be context specific. These results could have important implications for the selection and development of therapists for Low or High-Intensity cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) training.