title: The effectiveness of short- and long-term psychotherapy on personality functioning during a 5-year follow-up.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Only few randomized trials comparing sustained effects of short- and long-term psychotherapies in personality functioning are available. In this study we compared the effects of two short-term therapies and long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy on patients' personality functioning during a 5-year follow-up.
  
  
  METHODS
  Altogether 326 patients of the Helsinki Psychotherapy Study, with anxiety or mood disorder, were randomly assigned to either short-term psychotherapy of about six months (solution-focused therapy (SFT, n=97) or short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (SPP, n=101)), or to long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (LPP, n=128), lasting on average three years. Outcomes in personality functioning (i.e., self-concept, defense style, interpersonal problems, and level of personality organization) were assessed five to seven times using, respectively, questionnaires (SASB, DSQ, IIP) and interview (LPO) during the 5-year follow-up from randomization.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Personality functioning improved in all therapy groups. Both short-term therapies fared better than LPP during the first year of follow-up, by faster improvement in self-concept and decrease in immature defense style. SFT also showed more early reduction of interpersonal problems. However, LPP thereafter showed larger and more sustained benefits than SFT and SPP, through greater changes in self-concept. Additionally, LPP outperformed SFT at the end of the follow-up in IIP and LPO, after adjustment for auxiliary treatment. No differences were noted between the short-term therapies at any measurement point.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Auxiliary treatment was used relatively widely which limits generalization to exclusive use of short- or long-term therapy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  LPP seems to be somewhat more effective than short-term therapies in facilitating longterm changes in personality functioning.
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland. Electronic address: olavi.lindfors@thl.fi.
authors.forename: Olavi
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Lindfors
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland; Biomedicum Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Knekt
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Erkki
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Heinonen
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Tommi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Härkänen
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Esa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Virtala
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland; Biomedicum Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; Rehabilitation Foundation, Helsinki, Finland; Social Insurance Institution, Helsinki, Finland; Department of Psychiatry, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D010551:Personality; D011614:Psychotherapy, Brief; D064889:Psychotherapy, Psychodynamic; D012649:Self Concept; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Anxiety disorder; Mood disorder; Personality functioning; Psychodynamic; Psychotherapy