Search

When treatments are administered in groups, clients interact in ways that lead to violations of a key assumption of most statistical analyses-the assumption of independence of observations. The resulting dependencies, when not properly accounted for, can increase Type I errors dramatically. Of the 33 studies of group-administered treatment on the empirically supported treatments list, none appropriately analyzed their data. The current authors provide corrections that can be applied to improper analyses. After the corrections, only 12.4% to 68.2% of tests that were originally reported as significant remained significant, depending on what assumptions were made about how large the dependencies among observations really are. Of the 33 studies, 6-19 studies no longer had any significant results after correction. The authors end by providing recommendations for researchers planning group-administered treatment research., (((c) 2005 APA, all rights reserved).)

In the last few decades, group psychotherapy has deserved considerable attention from researchers. Based on recent publications, the authors of this work make considerations concerning the indication, the need to adopt a selection criteria, expected results and prognoses as well as the change process. Literature review shows a tendency to recognize the client as an agent for his own change. The particular shape which is taken by this process in group psychotherapy is pointed out.

Two versions of a multicomponent mind-body wellness intervention were tested. One hundred seventy-eight physician-referred HMO patients (mean age = 64.5) were randomly assigned to a classroom intervention, a home study intervention, or a wait-list control group. Both interventions provided instruction on mind-body relationships, relaxation training, cognitive restructuring, problem solving, communication, behavioral treatment for insomnia, nutrition, and exercise. The home version was delivered by class videotapes and readings. Compared with the control condition, both interventions led to significant decreases in self-reports of pain, sleep difficulties, and symptoms of depression and anxiety. The home course also led to a significant decrease in self-reported frequency of medical symptoms, and the classroom program resulted in a significant decrease in "chance" health locus of control beliefs. No effects were obtained for health behaviors, life satisfaction, HMO satisfaction, and other health locus of control beliefs. A lower cost, more accessible home study version of a mind-body wellness program can be an effective alternative to classroom instruction.

This paper describes an intensive time-limited group-therapy program conducted in a busy surgical clinic by two nursing staff with the support of a consultant psychiatrist. Nineteen patients with chronic idiopathic facial pain were recruited to the study and underwent weekly group therapy over 8 weeks. At the end of the study period, results showed decreases in pain, anxiety and depression scores, along with an improvement in the patients coping skills. The findings support the use of group psychological interventions undertaken by appropriately trained nursing staff in reducing symptoms associated with chronic idiopathic facial pain.

Forty-six patients with spider phobia, fulfilling the DSM-IV criteria for specific phobia, were assessed with behavioral, physiological and self-report measures. They were randomly assigned to three group treatment conditions: (1) direct treatment; (2) direct observation; and (3) indirect observation. All treatments were carried out in large groups of eight patients, and consisted of one 3 hr session of massed exposure and modelling. The results showed that on the behavioral test, measures and the specific self-report measures of spider phobia the direct treatment was significantly better than direct observation and indirect observation, which did not differ. On the physiological measures and the psychopathology self-report measures there were significant pre-post improvements, but no differences between the groups. The effects were maintained or furthered at the one year follow-up assessment. The proportion of clinically significantly improved patients were, at post-treatment, 75% in the direct treatment, 7% in the direct observation, and 31% in the indirect observation group. At follow-up, the corresponding figures were 75, 14, and 44%, respectively. The conclusion that can be drawn is that direct treatment is the treatment of choice.

Objective: Previous research has demonstrated that peer rejection is a significant part of the clinical presentation of many children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Outcome studies of treatment interventions have typically failed to show generalization of treatment gains to the home and classroom. This has been especially true for children who have comorbid oppositional defiant disorder (ODD). The present study was intended to demonstrate generalization of an outpatient social skills training program when parents were trained in skills relevant to their child's social adjustment., Method: Thirty-five children with ADHD and 14 children without ADHD were given 12 sessions of treatment (treatment group). Outcome was compared with 12 children with ADHD and 12 children without ADHD who were on a waitlist for treatment (waitlist group). Nineteen children with ODD were in the treatment group and five in the waitlist. Stimulant medication was prescribed for all children with ADHD., Results: Subjects with ADHD showed improvement comparable with that of subjects without ADHD on all teacher- and parent-reported measures of peer adjustment and social skills, except teacher-reported withdrawal. Children with ODD had outcome comparable with that of children without ODD. Effect sized ranged from 0.93 to 1.34 indicating that the average treatment group subject was better off than 83.4% of waitlist subjects on outcome measures., Conclusions: The present results suggest that children with ADHD are best heiped by a combination of social skills training for themselves, collateral training for their parents and stimulant medication.

Families of 97 children with early-onset conduct problems, 4 to 8 years old, were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 conditions: a parent training treatment group (PT), a child training group (CT), a combined child and parent training group (CT + PT), or a waiting-list control group (CON). Posttreatment assessments indicated that all 3 treatment conditions had resulted in significant improvements in comparison with controls. Comparisons of the 3 treatment conditions indicated that CT and CT + PT children showed significant improvements in problem solving as well as conflict management skills, as measured by observations of their interactions with a best friend; differences among treatment conditions on these measures consistently favored the CT condition over the PT condition. As for parent and child behavior at home, PT and CT + PT parents and children had significantly more positive interactions, compared with CT parents and children. One-year follow-up assessments indicated that all the significant changes noted immediately posttreatment had been maintained over time. Moreover, child conduct problems at home had significantly lessened over time. Analyses of the clinical significance of the results suggested that the combined CT + PT condition produced the most significant improvements in child behavior at 1-year follow-up.