Homeopathy 2002; 91(02): 63-74
DOI: 10.1054/homp.2002.0003
Original Paper
Copyright ©The Faculty of Homeopathy 2002

Homeopathic constitutional type questionnaire correlates of conventional psychological and physical health scales: individual difference characteristics of young adults

Iris R Bell
1   Program in Integrative Medicine, The University of Arizona Health Sciences Center, 1650 E. Fort Lowell Road Suite 201, Tucson, AZ, 85719, USA
,
CM Baldwin
1   Program in Integrative Medicine, The University of Arizona Health Sciences Center, 1650 E. Fort Lowell Road Suite 201, Tucson, AZ, 85719, USA
,
GE Schwartz
1   Program in Integrative Medicine, The University of Arizona Health Sciences Center, 1650 E. Fort Lowell Road Suite 201, Tucson, AZ, 85719, USA
,
J RT Davidson
2   Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, USA
› Author Affiliations

Subject Editor:
Further Information

Publication History

Received30 July 2001
revised10 September 2001

accepted18 December 2001

Publication Date:
28 December 2017 (online)

Abstract

This study examined associations between scores for 19 different remedies on the constitutional type questionnaire (CTQ) and scores on standardized psychological and medical trait and state scales from health psychology research. Subjects were 104 young adult American college students (mean age 20 years; 67% female). Scales included the chemical intolerance index (CII) for environmental sensitivity, the NEO personality inventory, Marlowe–Crowne social desirability (MCSD) Scale for defensiveness, Harvard parental caring scale (HPCS) for perceived mother and father traits, Profile of Mood State (POMS) scale, Pennebaker symptom checklist (PSC), and a 3-item global health rating scale. The majority of CTQ constitutional type scores correlated significantly with greater NEO neuroticism, lower MCSD defensiveness, and greater psychological distress on the POMS subscales. NEO Extraversion and Openness subscales correlated with specific CTQ scores in directions consistent with clinical remedy pictures. CTQ Carcinosin differed from other remedies, showing no significant correlations with other scales. As hypothesized (a) persons high on CTQ scores for Carcinosin and low in parental caring (HPCS) had the highest symptom score; (b) those high on CTQ scores for Sulphur and low on HPCS had the poorest global health ratings; (c) individuals high on four different CTQ type scores (Carcinosin, Lachesis, Nux vomica, Sulphur) and high on environmental sensitivity (CII) exhibited the highest symptom scores. Taken together, the data offer additional validation of the CTQ and provide a foundation for studying interactions of constitutional type with both psychosocial and physicochemical environmental factors in homeopathic provers and patients.

 
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