The efficacy of group psychotherapy for depression: A meta-analysis and review of the empirical research.

Abstract

We conducted a meta‐analysis of 48 research reports on the efficacy of group therapy for depression. In 15 studies in which treated participants were compared to untreated controls, the average effect size was 1.03, suggesting that the average treated participant was better off than about 85% of the untreated participants. Analyses of clinically significant change suggested that treated participants improved substantially. However, even after treatment, participants still had pronounced depressive symptomatology relative to normative levels of depressive symptoms seen in non‐depressed individuals. We conclude that group therapy is an efficacious treatment for depressed patients. However, numerous questions remain unanswered. For example, little empirical work has investigated what advantages group therapy might have over individual therapy. We conclude by making recommendations for future research in this area.

The effectiveness of bibliotherapy in alleviating tinnitus-related distress

“…The finding that bibliotherapeutic approaches can have a positive effect on depression [15,17] has special implications for tinnitus-related distress. A number of studies have found an association between tinnitus-related distress and depression, and improvements in tinnitusrelated disability and depressive symptoms covary [7].…”

When Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy Works and When It Doesn't: Clinical Data Mining on Good and Poor CBGT Outcomes for Depression and Anxiety Among Hong Kong Chinese

“…Not surprisingly, pretreatment symptom severity is the most consistent negative predictor of treatment outcome in CBGT. Specific measures such as poor overall functioning and social adjustment, low perceived mastery/low self-efficacy, absence of intimate relationship, and suicidal ideation were associated with poor treatment outcomes (Hamilton & Dobson, 2002;Hoberman, Lewinsohn, & Tilson, 1988;Hooke & Page, 2002;Kavanagh & Wilson, 1989;McDermut et al, 2001).…”

“…In the more research-oriented clinical settings for example, subjects may also be more likely to drop out when they are randomly assigned to a treatment modality that is not consistent to their preference (Arnow et al, 2007;McDermut et al, 2001). Likewise, the results of RCTs conducted in other countries and with clients of other cultures may have questionable generalizability due to differences in local cultural and/or socioeconomic factors.…”

“…Two meta-analyses have shown that cognitive-behavioral group therapy (CBGT) is an efficacious treatment for MDD, producing strong average effect sizes of 1.11 (McDermut, Miller, & Brown, 2001) and 1.23 (Petrocelli, 2002) for MDD, and a moderate to strong effect size of 0.59 for anxiety disorders and of 0.81 for social phobia (Petrocelli, 2002). McDermut and colleagues (2001) further concluded that those CBGT participants that experienced clinically significant change for MDD fared better than about 85% of those who went untreated.…”

A Response to “Time-Limited Service Alternatives: Using Therapeutic Enactment in Open Group Therapy”: A Dramatic Effort to Redefine Short-Term and Time-Limited Services

“…McDermut, Miller, and Brown (2001) reported a meta-analytic study that found strong support for the efficacy of group therapy that averaged 12 sessions in length. Piper, Debbane, Bienvenu, and Garant (1984) compared short-term groups to other treatments and found them to be effective.…”