The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of CBT group psychotherapy for schizophrenics in a Rehabilitation Community Center. The study adopted a pre-test and post-test experimental design. Eighteen schizophrenics in the Rehabilitation Community Center of Kaohsiung Medical University Chung-Ho Memorial Hospital were invited to participate the study. They were assigned into the experiment and control groups with 9 participants, respectively. The standard intervention was provided to members in both groups, while the patients in the experimental group received another 12 weekly CBT group psychotherapy, 120 minutes in each session.
The research tools used in this study were “Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale”, “Beck Depression Inventory” and “Beck Anxiety Inventory”. Pre-test and post-test data from both groups were collected and analyzed with ANCOVA. Furthermore, the group process records, interview data and feedback by the patients were analyzed to evidence the effectiveness of CBT group psychotherapy.
The major findings of this study were as follows:
1.The scores of the “Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale” in experimental group were significantly lower than those in the control group.
2.The scores of “Negative scales” in the experimental group were significantly lower than those in the control group.
3.The scores of “General Psychopathology” in experimental group were significantly lower than those in the control group.
4.The scores of “Beck Depression Inventory” in experimental group were significantly lower than those in the control group.
5.Qualitative analysis indicated that participants were satisfied with positive effects brought by CBT group psychotherapy and believed it could help to improve their interpersonal relationship.
With abovementioned findings, the study would provide further concrete suggestions as a reference for counseling practice and further research.
