School Refusal in Adolescence: Personality Traits and Their Influence on Treatment Outcome

Abstract

There has been little attention to personality in research on school refusal (SR). This study examined personality traits among 41 adolescents receiving cognitive–behavioral therapy (CBT) during participation in a School Refusal Program. Traits were examined via clinical scales and 2-point code types derived from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory—Adolescent. The influence of personality traits on treatment outcome was examined at post-treatment and 1-year follow-up. At pretreatment, eight of the 10 clinical scales were disproportionately skewed toward the “high to very high” range relative to a norm group. Social introversion and depressive symptomatology were significantly increased relative to the norm group, and nearly one-half of the adolescents were characterized by code type 2-3/3-2 (depression/hysteria) or 2-0/0-2 (depression/social introversion). Adolescents characterized by a 2-0/0-2 code type were almost twice as likely (odds ratio = 1.78) to be treatment responders at post-treatment. There was no relation between personality traits and treatment outcome at follow-up. The small sample size limits generalization of the study’s findings. If the results are replicated, personality traits may provide useful indications for personalizing treatment when employing interventions recommended in CBT manuals for SR.