Cognitive-behavioral and experiential group psychotherapy for HIV-infected homosexual men: a comparative study

The knowledge of being infected with the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) brings about psychological distress and social problems including anxiety, depression, and social isolation. Participating in psychosocial intervention programs can help to reduce these problems. To date, however, very little is known about the efficacy of different intervention strategies. We implemented a study with a randomized experimental design to investigate the effectiveness of a cognitive-behavioral group psychotherapy (CBT) and an experiential group psychotherapy (ET) program for 39 asymptomatic HIV-infected homosexual men. Both therapies consisted of 17 sessions over a 15-week period. The major finding of this study was that psychosocial intervention, independent of the therapeutic orientation, decreased distress significantly, as compared with a waiting-list control group (WCG). There were no significant changes in the intervention groups as compared with the WCG in coping styles, social support, and emotional expression. Finally, CBT and ET did not differ in their effects on psychological distress or on the other psychosocial variables measured in this study.