Objective
To evaluate the changes in anxious and depressive symptomatology, self‐esteem and social adaptation in college students who attended group psychotherapy for 6 months.
Method
A quasi‐experimental, one‐group pretest–post‐test design was utilised. The effect of group psychotherapy on the symptoms of anxiety, depression, self‐esteem and social adjustment was evaluated in 41 college students, with depressive‐anxious disorders as principal diagnoses. For six months, they were treated with interactional‐type psychotherapy and with pharmacological treatment if necessary.
Results
Significant improvements were found in depressive symptoms (p = .0001), state anxiety (p = .001), self‐esteem evaluated with the Coopersmith Self‐Esteem Inventory (p = .039) and with the Rosenberg Self‐Esteem Scale (p = .024) and social adaptation (p = .013). No effect was observed by gender or by adding pharmacological treatment.
Conclusions
Group psychotherapy may be useful in reducing depressive and anxious symptoms, and improving self‐esteem and social adaptation.
Group psychotherapy expects to afford more lasting changes on patients' symptomatology, as well as reinforce positive aspects of self-esteem and social adjustment. However, few investigations show the effects over an extended period of intervention. This study aimed to assess changes in symptoms of anxiety, depression, self-esteem and social adjustment within a period of six and twelve months in college students who attended interactional group psychotherapy. A longitudinal study was carried out with college students who attended group psychotherapy, using the database of forty-one of the students who stayed for six months and 23 of them, for 12 months. Significant improvements were observed at 6 and 12 months in anxietystate and depressive symptoms compared to baseline data, but there were no changes between 6 and 12 months. The comparison between well-being aspects such as self-esteem and social adaptation showed improvements mostly, up to 12 months, without any significant changes between 6 and 12 months. Also, there was observed a correlation between well-being punctuations (self-esteem and social adaptation) and the decrease of depressive and anxiety symptomatology. Long-term group psychotherapy demonstrates a decrease of symptomatology at six months of intervention, and they remain at 12 months; however, other aspects of patient's well-being, are enhanced to a higher level until 12 months.
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