First impressions matter: The influence of initial assessments on psychological treatment initiation and subsequent dropout.

Objective: This study investigated if patients' experience of an initial assessment may be associated with outcome expectations, and with subsequent treatment attendance.

Method: The sample comprised  = 6051 patients with depression/anxiety disorders, nested within  = 148 assessing therapists. Multilevel modelling (MLM) was used to examine therapist effects on treatment initiation and subsequent dropout, adjusting for patient-level characteristics.