Integrative group psychotherapy for patients with somatic symptom disorder: A randomized controlled trial

Yu Wang; Lingfei Li; Litao Huang; Jing Ma; Linli Zheng; Kurt Fritzsche; Rainer Leonhart; Anne-Christin Toussaint; Rainer Schaefert; Lan Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2023.115660

Integrative group psychotherapy for patients with somatic symptom disorder: A randomized controlled trial

Psychiatry Res. 2024 Jan:331:115660. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2023.115660. Epub 2023 Dec 3.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Mental Health Center, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Dianxin South Street, 28#, Wuhou District, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, People's Republic of China.
² Department of Clinical Research Management, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, People's Republic of China.
³ Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Faculty of Medicine, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, University of Medicine, Germany.
⁴ Institute of Psychology, University of Freiburg, Germany.
⁵ Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Hamburg, Eppendorf, Germany.
⁶ Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, University of Basel and University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
⁷ Mental Health Center, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Dianxin South Street, 28#, Wuhou District, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: huaxizhanglan@126.com.

PMID: 38061179
DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2023.115660

Abstract

The study aimed to determine whether specific integrative group psychotherapy (IGPT), based on CBT, combined with techniques of psychodynamic therapy and mindful body and emotional awareness is more effective than non-specific supportive group psychotherapy (SGPT) and treatment as usual (TAU) alone. A total of 120 SSD patients were randomly assigned to IGPT, SGPT or TAU groups. Both IGPT and SGPT showed significantly lower SSD-12 scores at the 4, 8, and 12-week follow-ups compared to TAU. No significant differences were observed between IGPT and SGPT at any follow-up point. These findings highlight the potential benefits of group psychotherapy in SSD treatment.

Keywords: Group therapy; Randomized controlled study; Somatic symptom disorders.

Publication types

Randomized Controlled Trial

MeSH terms

Alanine Transaminase
Humans
Medically Unexplained Symptoms*
Mental Disorders*
Psychotherapy / methods
Psychotherapy, Group*
Psychotherapy, Psychodynamic*
Treatment Outcome

Substances

Alanine Transaminase