The efficacy of group psychotherapy for depression: A meta-analysis and review of the empirical research

We conducted a meta-analysis of 48 research reports on the efficacy of group therapy for depression, In 15 studies in which treated participants were compared to untreated controls, the average effect size war 1.03, suggesting that the average treated participant war better off than about 85% of the untreated participants. Analyser of clinically significant change suggested that treated participants improved substantially. However, even after treatment, participants still had pronounced depressive symptomatology relative to normative levels of depressive symptoms seen in nondepressed individuals, We conclude that group therapy is an efficacious treatment for depressed patients. However, numerous questions remain unanswered, For example, little empirical work has investigated what advantages group therapy might have over individual therapy. We conclude by making recommendations for future research in this area.