Problem-solving training groups for hospitalized psychiatric patients

Small groups lasting eight sessions each and aimed at improving patient's interpersonal problem-solving skills were conducted for a total of 41 hospitalized psychiatric patients. Forty control patients received the same pre and posttests but notraining. Twenty-three patients participated in play-reading groups without problem-solving training (placebo condition). Three separate 3 by 2 repeated measures analyses of variance showed that hospitalization alone improved the patient's functioning on the criterion test of problem-solving, but the problem-solving training groups advanced the improvement significantly. More disturbed patients made only slightly greater gains than less disturbed ones. The hospital stay was significantly shorter for the experimental and the placebo groups than for the control sample.