Group therapy for schizophrenia: A meta-analysis

Abstract

The effectiveness of group treatments for people with schizophrenia has not been examined on symptom-specific (positive and negative symptoms) outcomes, and the differential effects of the most popular group treatments remain unknown. We conducted a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials that tested (a) the effectiveness of 7 frequently used group treatments on positive and negative symptoms and (b) if treatment-specific outcome improvement was associated with improvement on schizophrenia symptoms. Major databases were searched from 1990 to 2018 for randomized controlled trials of group treatment for people with schizophrenia, including first-episode psychosis. A random effects meta-analysis and meta-regression was conducted on 52 studies representing 4,156 individuals that produced a significant, small effect on symptom-specific outcomes (g = 0.30), with 4 group treatments (cognitive remediation, multifamily, psychoeducational, and social skills training) posting significant improvement. In addition, change on treatment-specific outcomes explained 16% of schizophrenia symptom and 44% of general functioning improvement. Results are discussed with respect to how they replicate past meta-analytic findings and possible revision of practice guidelines to incorporate evidence-based group treatments for schizophrenia. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).