Aggression in group psychoanalytic psychotherapy: questionnaire development (GA-AG)

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Psychotherapy Research

Background:

• Aggression in group psychotherapy can impede therapeutic progress.
• A validated instrument is needed to quantify aggressive dynamics within group settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a questionnaire for assessing aggression in group psychoanalytic psychotherapy.
• To examine the factor structure of aggression-related behaviors in group therapy.

Main Methods:

• A 160-item Likert-scale questionnaire was developed based on observed aggressive communication.
• The questionnaire was administered to 253 patients across 40 therapy groups in Croatia.
• Item discrimination and principal components analysis were used to refine the questionnaire into two 80-item parallel forms, identifying five key factors.

Main Results:

• A reliable and valid questionnaire for group psychotherapy was successfully developed.
• Factor analysis identified five core dimensions of aggression: difficulty in communication, distrust, withdrawal, low containing capacity, and mutual lack of understanding.
• The questionnaire effectively measures these dimensions at both individual and group levels.

Conclusions:

• The developed questionnaire provides a valuable tool for quantifying and understanding aggressive dynamics in group psychoanalytic psychotherapy.
• This instrument can aid therapists in identifying and addressing specific areas of interpersonal difficulty within therapy groups.
• Further research can utilize this questionnaire to explore the impact of these aggressive factors on therapeutic outcomes.