Influence of sociodemographic and clinical characteristics on the frequency of psychotherapy sessions

Abstract

Psychotherapy is the most prevalent ambulatory treatment for mental disorders. However, many patients who initiate a psychotherapeutic intervention do not receive the treatment in an “appropriate dosage”, so the probability of obtaining the desired symptomatic relief is reduced. Tis study aims to understand which sociodemographic variables (age, gender, marital status, education and occupational status) and clinical variables (psychiatric care, psychological counseling history, suicidal ideation, substance use and diagnosis) are associated with adherence to psychotherapy sessions. For this study 493 patients who attended psychotherapy in a private clinic of mental health were involved, aged between 18 and 65 years old (M = 35, SD = 10.17). 319 patients were female, aged between 18 and 65 years old (M = 35.38, SD = 10.37); and 174 patients were male, aged between 18 and 62 years old (M = 34.29, SD = 9.76). Patients between 18 and 34 years, with psychotherapeutic monitoring history in psychiatric care, with suicidal ideation or comorbidity of psychiatric disorders, attended a higher number of psychotherapy sessions. Tese data are important for a wider understanding of psychotherapeutic adherence, and identifcation of dropout variables.