The relationship between interpersonal subtypes and the modification of interpersonal problems in psychotherapy inpatients

Abstract

Objectives: Interpersonal problems are typically assessed with the Inventory of interpersonal Problems (IIP; Horowitz et al. 2000). Although patients show different interpersonal profiles, these have to date not been considered in outcome evaluation. We examined whether interpersonal subtypes can be found in inpatients, and whether they differ in the modification of interpersonal problems. Furthermore, we examined the impact of subtypes regarding overall outcome. Methods: The Structural Summary Method for Circumplex Data was used to examine the interpersonal problems of N = 2809 inpatients from the Asklepios Clinic Tiefenbrunn. Subtypes of interpersonal problems were determined by the centroid method of cluster analysis and were compared with regard to treatment effects. Results: Patients were distributed in the interpersonal Circumplex and were assigned to eight IIP subtypes, which differed in improvement with regard to interpersonal problems and overall outcome. Conclusions: According to the circumplex structure of IIP data, for group level evaluation it is necessary to generate interpersonal subtypes so that clinically relevant results can be demonstrated.