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 grou p therapy for depression, In 15 studies in which treated participants were compared to untreated controls, the average effect size war 1.03, suggestin g that the average treated participant war better off than about 85% of the untreated participants. Analyser of clinically significant change suggeste d that treated participants improved substantially. However, even after tre atment, participants still had pronounced depressive symptomatology relativ e to normative levels of depressive symptoms seen in nondepressed individua ls, We conclude that group therapy is an efficacious treatment for depresse d patients. However, numerous questions remain unanswered, For example, lit tle empirical work has investigated what advantages group therapy might hav e over individual therapy. We conclude by making recommendations for future research in this area.