Taxonomic aspects of clinical character typology

Whereas clinical character typology is based upon one typological idealized personality description of the same illness model, empirical character typology is concerned with the identification of the different personality structures for the same illness model. We have been able to prove that in a taxonomical analysis (Q-factor analysis) of patients and healthy persons subgroups can be identified whose mean-value profiles justify designation as depressive, compulsive, and hysterical personality. This classification was replicated from a second sample. Through this personality classification it becomes possible to determine the distribution of the three personality structures from a clinical group. The distribution of the personality structure in neurotic depression was 59% for the depressive, 19% for the compulsive, and 22% for the hysterical personality. We were able to prove that they can be characterized by various coping strategies which presumably require different psychotherapeutic interventions.