[Designing the doctor-patient relationship]

Designing the doctor-patient relationship: How beneficial are Balint groups and for whom?

Participation in Balint groups is obligatory for some medical specialist trainings. Yet there is a substantial lack of empirical evidence for Balint group effects.

1,460 medical specialists who participated in 352 different Balint groups were investigated using the Balint Group Questionnaire (BG-F) at the end of a Balint group session. Using mixed-model analyses, we examined the predictive value of the independent variables Experience in Balint Groups (in years), Clinical Experience in General (in years), Case Presentation vs. Nonpresentation, Facultative vs. Obligatory Participation (status) with regard to scale characteristics of the BG-F: Scale 1: Reflection of Transference Dynamics in the Doctor-Patient Relationship, Scale 2: Emotional and Cognitive Learning, Scale 3: Case Mirroring in the Group Dynamic. Mixed-model analyses were calculated separately for the subgroups Balint Experience < 1 year (vs. > 1 year) and for Balint Experience < 2 years (vs. > 2 years).

Complete data were available for 1,400 participants. On Scale 1, "somatic" doctors scored significantly higher than "psyche" doctors. Case presenters scored significantly higher than nonpresenters. On Scale 2, "somatic" doctors showed highly significantly higher scores than "psyche" doctors. Case presenters also scored highly significantly higher than nonpresenters. Doctors with < 2 years of Balint group experience had significantly higher scores than those with > 2 years. On Scale 3, case presenters scored highly significantly higher than nonpresenters. Group participants with less Balint group experience (< 1 year) had significantly lower scores on Scale 3 than group participants with more experience with Balint groups (> 1 year).

Participation in Balint groups generates important effects on doctors' knowledge regarding the doctor-patient relationship, both privately as well as professionally. These results confirm scientifically specific effects of Balint groups, providing empirical evidence for the importance of Balint group experiences for professionals in the medical field.