title: Personality correlates of meditation practice frequency and dropout in an outpatient population.
abstract: A prospective study was conducted to determine personality trait correlates of regularity of meditation practice and dropout over a 2-year follow-up period in outpatients referred for relaxation therapy. Patients were supervised on a monthly basis and classified as regular vs. irregular practitioners or dropouts at 3, 6, 12, and 24 months after they began meditating on a daily basis. Short-term (3-month) compliance was related to low levels of pretest sensitization, introversion, suggestibility, and neuroticism. Long-term (6- to 24-month) compliance was related only to repression and extraversion. By the end of 2 years, roughly half (54%) of the patients had terminated meditation altogether.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, St. James's Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Delmonte
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010349:Patient Compliance; D010352:Patient Dropouts / Q000523:psychology*; D010556:Personality Tests; D012064:Relaxation Therapy