[A Comparative Study on the Effect of Different Settings on Psychoanalytically Based Long- Term Treatments of...

The present study compares different settings - individual treatment, group treatment and combined setting - of psychoanalytic long-term treatments of children and adolescents with regard to their effectiveness. In addition to the parameters of therapy success (symptom reduction), the focus lies on the structural changes and conflict management on which a therapy success is based from a psychodynamic point of view, as well as the acquisition of psychosocial skills such as sporting and/or extracurricular activity, social competence and intelligence.The sample comprises N = 114 subjects (65.8 % male, 34.2 % female) aged five to 18 (MW = 10.76, SD = 3.22), who were randomized to the three settings.The pre-post results clarify that psychoanalytic long-term treatments are effective both in terms of reducing symptoms and in terms of increasing psychosocial skills. The study was also able to demonstrate changes in the structural level - as a central goal of psychoanalytical therapies. On the other hand, there are no significant changes of intrapsychic, developmentally impaired conflicts.There was no setting effect for any of the parameters examined either.The combined therapy enables legitimate flexibility tailored to the individual needs of the patients and their caregivers and/or the therapeutic goals.