title: Patterns of Change in Interpersonal Problems During and After Short-term and Long-term Psychodynamic Group Therapy: A Randomized Clinical Trial.
abstract: In this study, we compared the patterns of change in interpersonal problems between short-term and long-term psychodynamic group therapy.
  
  
  
  A total of 167 outpatients with mixed diagnoses were randomized to 20 or 80 weekly sessions of group therapy. Interpersonal problems were assessed with the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems at six time points during the 3-year study period. Using linear mixed models, change was linearly modelled in two steps. Earlier (within the first 6 months) and later (during the last 2.5 years) changes in five subscales were estimated.
  
  
  
  Contrary to what we expected, short-term therapy induced a significantly larger early change than long-term therapy on the cold subscale and there was a trend on the socially avoidant subscale, using a Bonferroni-adjusted alpha. There was no significant difference between short-term and long-term group therapy for improving problems in the areas cold, socially avoidant, nonassertive, exploitable, and overly nurturant over the 3 years.
authors.affiliation: a Department for Research and Development , Clinic for Mental Health and Addiction Oslo University Hospital , Oslo , Norway.
authors.forename: Anette
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fjeldstad
authors.affiliation: b Institute for Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo , Oslo , Norway.
authors.forename: Per
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Høglend
authors.affiliation: a Department for Research and Development , Clinic for Mental Health and Addiction Oslo University Hospital , Oslo , Norway.|b Institute for Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo , Oslo , Norway.
authors.forename: Steinar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lorentzen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D011614:Psychotherapy, Brief / Q000379:methods; D011615:Psychotherapy, Group / Q000379:methods*; D064889:Psychotherapy, Psychodynamic / Q000379:methods*
keywords: brief psychotherapy; group psychotherapy; long-term psychotherapy; outcome research; psychoanalytic/psychodynamic therapy