Rorschach correlates of treatment difficulty in a long-term psychiatric hospital

There are no studies of the use of the Rorschach test to predict possible treatment difficulties with hospitalized psychiatric patients. To explore this area, the authors assessed the Rorschach protocols of 114 patients using 19 example-anchored rating scales. They conducted a factor analysis of the scales and correlated the resulting factor scores with the extent and type of treatment difficulty. Although there were few significant findings, the Rorschach factors of Dysphoric Affect, Mirroring, and Depreciation may warrant further investigation of their predictive value for treatment difficulty. Rorschach measures of severity of psychological disturbance, inability to represent aggression in ideation, and depreciation may help treaters anticipate types of treatment difficulty.