ABSTRACT
Introduction: Experiential training groups are a well-known training tool used in professions based on relationship, empathy and understanding of the other. These groups have different names in the literature such as "experiential training groups," "growth groups," or "personal development groups". The literature showed that experiential training groups promote the students' personal and professional development (Chang et al., 2017), increased trainees' interpersonal and communication skills, personal and interpersonal awareness and the ability to empathize with their future clients (Pamukcu, 2022;McMahon and Rodillas, 2020;Ieva et al., 2009;Smith & Davis-Gage, 2008). However, there are still few studies that have analyzed the direct experiences of individuals in this group setting and identified the salient variables that may impact participants' experience (Goodrich, 2008). Moreover, there have been many online group experiences during the COVID-19 outbreak, but few studies have evaluated its effectiveness. Method(s): This work aims to explore the experiences of 357 students (87% female, mean age=24.1 years) following a bachelor or master program in clinical psychology who participated in 22 experiential training groups as part of their degree requirements. Data were collected between 2019 and 2022 through self-reports that investigated awareness of feelings about self and others (SAQ;Grant & Franklin, 2002), capacity of mentalization (MentS;Dimitrijevi et al., 2017), student's self-disclosure and well-being (PGWBI, Lundgren-Nilsson et al., 2013). Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, 12 groups (46.9% of students) took place online;the remaining were in presence, and all groups lasted 7 sessions. Result(s): Preliminary analyses showed moderate-to-high correlations between the studied variables (.14 - .45), and pre-post comparisons showed non-significant changes in self-awareness (t=.67, p=n.s.), well-being (t=.12, p=n.s.) and mentalization (t=1.80, p=n.s.). However, a very interesting result concerns the comparison of online and face-to-face groups, since in the latter, students showed a significant increase in the ability to mentalize the other (t=2.62, p< .01) while in online groups, this change is not observed (t=.56, p=n.s.). Further results will be presented and discussed. Conclusion(s): The findings from this study highlight challenges of participation to growth groups online and the main differences between the outcomes achieved online and in face-to-face settings. The implications for training practice are discussed.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: The coronavirus outbreak has been publicly and formally defined a global pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11th 2020. Some extreme but effective safety measures have been applied in order to limit the spread of the infection among the population. The price of COVID-19 restrictive measures and lockdowns has been especially heavy for individual's mental health. There is previous evidence that the COVID-19-related lockdown has impacted on mental health worsening among individuals with Feeding and Eating Disorders (EDs) and clinical obesity. Potential affecting aspects might have been restriction to daily activities and movements, excessive exposure to harmful eating patterns on social media, emotional distress, fear of contagion, and low access to treatment and care. Nevertheless, especially on the basis of the proven-detrimental impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on in- dividuals with clinical eating disorders, home confinement might analogously have had a negative impact also on the eating behaviors of individuals from the general population. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the prevalence of EDs symptoms and dysfunctional eating behaviours (i.e. emotional overeating, night eating, snacking, binge eating, undereating, food avoidance) among the general population. Method(s): We searched eligible articles in Medline, Embase, PsycInfo, Scopus, and Web of Science. Prevalence rates were pooled with meta-analysis using a random-effects model. Heterogeneity was tested using I-squared (I2) statistics. A total of 221 studies met the inclusion criteria. Result(s): The pooled prevalence of increased body weight was 33% (95% CI 30-35) among individuals in 84 studies. Forty-five percent (95% CI 31-59) of participants in 10 studies experienced body shape concern, body dissatisfaction and body misperception. Other EDs symptoms increased in the general population during the pandemic, such as overeating (41%;95% CI 33-48), food cravings (36%;95% CI 12- 59), binge eating (35%;95% CI 20-51), emotional eating (28%;95% CI 23-33) and snacking (27%;95% CI 23-32). Food restriction, excessive physical activity, weight loss and night eating were also common. Pooled data of longitudinal studies showed a significant difference in BMI and dysfunctional eating behaviours before and during the pandemic. Conclusion(s): This meta-analysis evidenced a negative impact of the pandemic on eating behaviors among the general population. Overall, these results highlight the need for further high-quality longitudinal studies that examine which specific populations experienced higher distress than others, and what are the long-term negative consequences of COVID-19.