Effects of long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy on life quality in mentally disturbed children. (16th November 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Krischer, Maya; Smolka, Benjamin; Voigt, Bernd; Lehmkuhl, Gerd; Flechtner, Hans-Henning; Franke, Sebastian; Hellmich, Martin; Trautmann-Voigt, Sabine
• Is Part Of: Psychotherapy research. Volume 30:Number 8(2020)
• Page Start: 1039
• Page End: 1047
• Publication Date: 2020-11-16
• Subjects: children -- routine treatment -- psychodynamic psychotherapy -- effectiveness -- psychopathology -- life quality; 兒童 -- 常規治療 -- 心理動力心理治療 -- 有效性 -- 心理病理 -- 生活品質; crianças -- tratamento de rotina -- psicoterapia psicodinâmica -- eficácia -- psicopatologia -- qualidade de vida; bambini -- trattamento di routine -- psicoterapia psicodinamica -- efficacia -- psicopatologia -- qualità della vita; Psychotherapy -- Periodicals; Psychotherapy -- Research -- Periodicals; Psychotherapy -- Periodicals; Psychothérapie -- Périodiques; Psychothérapie -- Recherche -- Périodiques; 616.891405
• DOI: 10.1080/10503307.2019.1695169
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1050-3307

Abstract

Abstract : Objective: Long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy for children aims not only at improving symptoms but also at changing the quality of life. To our knowledge, no studies exist to date that focused on both aspects. In this paper, we investigated changes in problem behavior and health-related quality of life based on long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy with children suffering from emotional and behavioral disorders. Method: We investigated 76 children in the treatment group and analyzed pre- and post-treatment symptoms. Furthermore, we compared the outcome data with a control group of 27 children of similar age and diagnoses who received no psychotherapy, both under routine care conditions. The children included in the study were treated on average for 66 sessions. Parent and adolescent ratings on the Achenbach Scales and the Quality of Life Inventory for Adolescents were compared before and after treatment. Results: We found a highly significant improvement of internalizing symptomatology based on parent ratings with a large effect. Different from prior investigations based on short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy we found changes in quality of life with large effects. Conclusion: These findings indicate that long-term psychodynamic treatment can improve life quality in children beyond symptom change.