title: Effects of individual cohesion and patient interpersonal style on outcome in psychodynamically oriented inpatient group psychotherapy.
abstract: The influence of patients' interpersonal traits in interaction with experienced individual cohesion (i.e., each patient's feeling of belonging to the group) was investigated in a sample of 327 inpatients with mixed diagnoses. High cohesion and an increase in cohesion emerged as predictive for symptom improvement in a multilevel regression model. This influence was moderated by the affiliation dimension: In dismissive patients, an increase of cohesion over the course of treatment was helpful; in affiliative patients, symptom improvement was correlated with a slight decrease of cohesion. The findings highlight the therapeutic importance of group therapy and point to the differential influence of individually experienced group cohesion.
authors.affiliation: Clinic for Psychosomatic and General Clinical Medicine, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany. ulrike.dinger@med.uni-heidelberg.de
authors.forename: Ulrike
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Dinger
authors.forename: Henning
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schauenburg
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009769:Object Attachment; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011379:Prognosis; D011575:Psychoanalytic Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D011594:Psychometrics; D011615:Psychotherapy, Group / Q000379:methods*; D055815:Young Adult