Narrative descriptions of incompetent trainee clinicians
suggest that such trainees may have unacceptably low emotional
intelligence (EI), which is consistent with a lack of the
requisite baseline competencies necessary for more advanced
practicum competency development. There further remains a need
to identify standardized instruments that could facilitate
gate-keeping decisions and support trainee development. The
purpose of this study, which included 32 trainee clinicians
and their respective 133 clients, was to characterize trainee
EI while taking into account the potential effect(s) of
personality factors. Results revealed that neuroticism, as
measured by Costa and McCrae’s five-factor inventory (P. T.
Costa, Jr. and R. R. McCrae, 1992, NEO PI-R professional
manual: Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R) and NEO
Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI), Odessa, FL, Psychological
Assessment Resources), significantly predicted client change
(as measured by the Outcome Questionnaire 45.2; M. J. Lambert
et al., 1996, Administration and Scoring Manual for the
OQ-45.2, Stevenson, MD, American Professional Credentialing
Services), with EI, as measured by the MSCEIT (J. D. Mayer, P.
Salovey, & D. Caruso, 2002, Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional
Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) user’s manual. Toronto, ON, Canada:
Multi-Health Systems), moderating this relationship. The model
accounted for 46% of the variance in client outcomes. Drawing
on the private self-consciousness literature, an explanation
for the valuable interaction between EI and neuroticism in
producing client change is discussed and implications for
training, practice, and future research are identified.