title: The effectiveness of internet chat groups in relapse prevention after inpatient psychotherapy.
abstract: The majority of patients benefit from psychotherapeutic treatment. However, many fail to maintain their treatment gains following discharge. In a controlled study, we investigated the effectiveness of internet chat groups in preventing relapse following inpatient treatment. One hundred and fifty-two patients were assessed with the Longitudinal Follow-up Evaluation (LIFE) 1 year after discharge from the hospital. Kaplan Meier survival analyses showed that significantly fewer chat participants (22.2%) than control participants (46.5%) experienced a relapse. Additional analyses yielded a significant difference in the relapse rates of chat and control participants depending on their utilization of outpatient treatment after discharge. The results confirm that technology-enhanced interventions are effective in maintaining treatment gains. Implications of the findings for health care provision are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Center for Psychotherapy Research, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany. stephanie.bauer@med.uni-heidelberg.de
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bauer
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wolf
authors.forename: Severin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Haug
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kordy
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients / Q000523:psychology; D020407:Internet; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010351:Patient Discharge; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D055502:Secondary Prevention; D013813:Therapy, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult