Attrition and attendance in group therapy for university students: An examination of predictors across time

Abstract

Objectives There exists a dearth of research focused explicitly on predictors of attrition, particularly in the area of group therapy, where both attrition and attendance becomes of primary concern. The present study examined both pretreatment and treatment‐specific variables in the prospective prediction of attendance and attrition in group therapy. Method Fifty‐two participants were randomized to one of two 12‐week group treatments. Participants completed baseline interviews and questionnaires, as well as weekly assessments of treatment‐specific factors. Results No pretreatment factors predicted attendance or drop out, although men attended a larger amount of sessions and were less likely to drop out. Cross‐lagged panel analyses supported bidirectional, causal relationships both treatment‐specific predictors (therapeutic alliance and number of therapeutic techniques) and attendance. Conclusions Successful retention in group therapy may be less predictable from pretreatment factors and instead lie in increasing alliance and fostering the practice of therapeutic strategies.

A Parent Education Program for Single Fathers’ Parent-Child Relationship in Rural China: A Pretest–Posttest-Follow-Up Study

“…Treatment adherence in this study was very strong; close to 90% of participating fathers completed all 13 sessions of the intervention and stayed in the study 1 year post-intervention. This adherence rate is 15-20% better than many reported retention rates (Gulamani, Uliaszek, Chugani, & Rashid, 2020;Michael, 2018). One possible reason for the strong retention rate may be the intervention's group format; studies have found fathers are more receptive to support groups than individual therapy sessions (Duhig, Phares, & Birkeland, 2002;Glynn & Dale, 2015), a factor social work practitioners may want to take into consideration.…”

Use of Immersive Virtual Reality Spaces to Engage Adolescent and Young Adult Patients With Cancer in Therapist-Guided Support Groups: Protocol for a Pre-Post Study

“…This protocol review describes the implementation of social VR support groups for a rare disease population with substantial participation (72.8%, SD 25.7%) and retention rates (86.7%, SD 0.35%). These rates compare favorably to historical data describing outpatient mental health attrition rates ranging widely with a range of 25% to 75% in children and adolescents [34]. Prior to the launch of our VR-based approach, and despite expressing a desire to participate in support groups, our adolescent and young adult cancer social worker was unable to convince any significant number of patients to return to the hospital for in-person groups.…”

The clinical effectiveness of the Mind/Body Program for Infertility on wellbeing and assisted reproduction outcomes: a randomized controlled trial in search for active ingredients

“…The ratios of patients found to be psychologically vulnerable, and those interested and actually attending the psychological programme are comparable with the take-up of psychosocial services in the ART setting in previous studies ( Spoletini et al , 2022 ). The average session attendance rate (88.8%) was impressively high, and the attrition rate (5.5%) was low, as compared to that of psychological interventions in general, where the dropout is estimated to be 17% in efficacy studies and 26% in effectiveness studies ( Swift and Greenberg, 2012 ), and to attrition rates in group settings ranging between 25% and 31% ( Hofmann and Suvak, 2006 ; Gulamani et al , 2020 ). This points to the feasibility of the intervention, and to the remarkably high motivation of women facing infertility to raise in all possible ways their chances of having a child.…”