Hostile interpretation bias and psychological treatment dropout: A preliminary investigation

Abstract

Despite the recent advances in psychological treatment, treatment dropout remains a major problem across empirically supported therapeutic modalities (Swift & Greenberg, 2012). A contributing factor to treatment dropout is a weakened therapeutic relationship (Lorr, 1965). Hostile interpretation bias, the tendency to interpret ambiguous information as hostile or threatening, is a common component of many psychological disorders, which may contribute to the development of the therapeutic relationship. The current study examined the relationships between hostile interpretation bias, the therapeutic relationship, and treatment dropout. Participants (131; 79.4% Female) completed questionnaires related to past psychological treatment experiences, psychological symptoms, and a hostile interpretation bias task. There was a significant relationship between therapeutic relationship and treatment dropout but the other relationships were not significant. Our results add to prior research indicating the importance of the therapeutic relationship in treatment dropout. Although there were non-significant relationships between hostile interpretation bias, therapeutic relationship, and treatment dropout; exploratory results revealed that symptoms of psychological disorders, perceived barriers to treatment, and attitudes towards treatment are significantly associated with treatment dropout. These factors represent intriguing areas for future research in treatment dropout.