[Interpersonal problems, interpersonal orientation and success of treatment after inpatient group psychotherapy]

To describe and estimate the importance of interpersonal problems and orientations for inpatient group psychotherapy, a total of 78 inpatients from two different hospitals (university hospital Kiel, psychotherapeutic hospital Berlin-Hirschgarten) were investigated using the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems and the SCL90R prior to and (partly) following longterm psychotherapy. Both groups reported more interpersonal problems than a group of 55 outpatients. The subgroups differed from each other in terms of their symptoms reported in the SCL90R and their interpersonal orientation (sensu Horowitz) which was smaller in the patient group from the Berlin Hospital (an institution of the former German Democratic Republic). Within this subgroup, treatment success (obtained with a variety of different measures) appeared to be less in those patients whose interpersonal problems were mainly related to the dimension of dominance. The ratio of interpersonal to impersonal problems was not significantly related to therapy outcome in either of the subgroups. The results of this study are mainly discussed with respect to the different psychotherapeutic concepts practiced in both hospitals. Generally, the investigation supported the significance of the interpersonal dimension for empirical research within the field of inpatient psychotherapy.