Area of Science:

• Psychiatry and Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Psychotherapy Research

Context:

• Inpatient group psychotherapy for depression is widely practiced.
• The open group format is more common in clinical settings than the closed format.
• Limited research compares the efficacy and cohesion of open versus closed group formats in inpatient depression treatment.

Purpose:

• To compare the efficacy and group cohesion of open versus closed inpatient group psychotherapy for depression.
• To investigate changes in depression symptomatology and group cohesion over time in both formats.

Summary:

• A monocentric study involving 291 depressed inpatients compared open and closed cognitive-behavioral group formats.
• Both formats demonstrated significant reductions in depression symptomatology (d = 1.8).
• Group cohesion improved significantly in the closed format but not in the open format, indicating a format-specific effect on cohesion.

Impact:

• While both formats are effective for depression symptom reduction, the closed format may foster greater group cohesion.
• Findings suggest that group format is a relevant factor in inpatient psychotherapy for depression.
• Further randomized controlled trials are needed to directly compare the efficacy and cohesion of open and closed group formats.