Predicting patient benefit from a group-oriented, evening treatment program

Patients with coexisting mood and personality disorders are a challenge to service care providers who offer treatment. The response of 190 patients with one or both disorders to an intensive group-oriented evening treatment program was investigated. Benefit was assessed using factors derived from pre-post outcome measures and from general impressions of program usefulness. A predictive model consisting of patient levels of psychological mindedness and psychodynamic work was applied. Results indicated that psychological mindedness was significantly related to psychodynamic work in the program, and work was related to general impressions of program usefulness. These results cross-validated findings from a previous study of a day-treatment program. Restricted range may have prevented finding significant results for the pre-post outcome factors. Clinical implications of the findings are discussed.