Studies on the efficacy of child psychoanalysis

This article summarizes 3 studies that evaluated the psychoanalytic psychotherapeutic treatment of diabetic children and adolescents with grossly abnormal blood glucose profiles necessitating repeated admissions to hospital. Study 1 used time series analysis to demonstrate that improvements in control were predicted by unconscious themes emerging in the analytic material. Study 2 compared the effect of psychotherapeutic treatment with that of minimal psychological intervention in two well-matched groups (n = 11). Patients in the treatment group were offered psychoanalytic psychotherapy 3-4 times per week on the hospital ward. The intervention was highly effective in improving the diabetic control of the children, and this improvement was maintained at 1-year follow-up. Study 3 used single-case experimental design to demonstrate the marked effect of psychotherapeutic help on growth in diabetic children with short stature.