ABSTRACT
Self-help groups (SHGs) may rival all other forms of treatment sometime within the next century (see Goodman & Jacobs article in "The Handbook of Group Psychotherapy," Wiley, 1994), though the "purist" model of SHGs seems inaccurate because many professionals are actually involved. Although traditional forms of group treatment have kept pace with empirical research (Fuhriman & Burlingame, "The Handbook of Group Psychotherapy," 1994), SHGs have not. In particular, medical SHGs, often promoted by hospitals as viable treatment alternatives, have no systemized database from which to draw conclusions about overall effectiveness compared to traditional group therapies. A preliminary assessment of this area is presented using a meta-analysis of articles culled from a comprehensive review of the literature from 1970 to 1997. Results indicate that although the posttreatment analysis produced no significant differences between active and control conditions, pre to posttreatment scores indicated that SHGs produced higher patient improvement when compared to the control condition. Future implications for research and use of medical SHGs are explored.
Subject(s)
Mental Disorders/therapy , Self-Help Groups , Adult , Female , Humans , Male , Mental Health Services/organization & administrationABSTRACT
The Outcome Questionnaire is a 45-item inventory of client-report symptoms and distress, used to track therapeutic change on a session-by-session basis. Data collected with the cooperation of a managed care provider were analyzed to note ethnic differences on the questionnaire. 1552 first session questionnaires were selected and mean total and subscale scores were analyzed using analysis-of-variance procedures for differences by ethnicity. No significant differences were found; however, significant ethnic differences on some items were noted, and these are reported with ethnic trends in clients' problems, diagnoses, and therapists' ratings on Global Assessment of Functioning. These findings were contrasted with those of other studies reporting ethnic differences on various measures such as IQ and personality assessment.
