Operation of the Department of Adult Psychotherapy at the Institute of Behaviour Research & Therapy in Athens

• Published in: Psychiatrikē Vol. 25; no. 4; p. 255
• Main Authors: Tzintziropoulou, E, Efthimiou, K
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Greek
• Published: Greece 01.10.2015
• Subjects: Adult; Cognitive Therapy - methods; Cognitive Therapy - statistics & numerical data; Community Mental Health Services - methods; Community Mental Health Services - statistics & numerical data; Demography; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; Female; Greece - epidemiology; Humans; Male; Mental Disorders - diagnosis; Mental Disorders - epidemiology; Mental Disorders - psychology; Mental Disorders - therapy; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Psychometrics - methods; Socioeconomic Factors
• ISSN: 1105-2333

The article presents the demographics of the total number of people (n=515) who were administered Cognitive Behavior Psychotherapy from October 2005 until July 2009 as well as the demographics of those who completed therapy (n=180), along with the diagnoses and the course of their treatment based on the scores of psychometric assessments. Demographic variables include: sex, age, course of treatment, professional and marital status, educational level, number of sessions, previous visits to mental health professionals and possible medication uptake. The course of treatment was assessed by scores on: Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90R) and Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire (PDQ-4) that were completed at the beginning, in the middle and at the end of treatment. According to data analysis, 180 people completed treatment at the Institute of Behaviour Research and Therapy, of whom 133 were women and 47 men. The profile of these individuals showed that they were highly educated, employed, with an average of 33 (SD=9.2) years of age and with previous visits to mental health professionals. The average number of sessions was 34 (SD=15). Anxiety (n=76, 42.22%) and Mood Disorders (n=52, 28.9%) were the most frequent Axis I diagnoses. In relation to Axis II diagnoses, 22.22% of the sample was diagnosed with Avoidant Personality Disorder (n=40) and 16,11% with Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder (n=29) with or without comorbidity with an Axis I Disorder according to DSM IV-TR. Means of the scores of psychometric measurements showed a statistically significant reduction in reported symptoms after the completion of treatment. In particular, there was a statistically significant reduction with a large effect size: (1) t(143)=12.02, p<0.0005, eta squared statistic (0.50) for BAI, (2) t(142)=17.93, p<0.0005, eta squared statistic (0.69) for BDI, (3) t(133)=15.77, p<0.0005, eta squared statistic (0.65) for SCL-90-R, and (4) t(56)=7.59, p<0.0005, eta squared statistic (0.50) for PDQ-4. In conclusion, Department of Adult Psychotherapy is a unit that has been thoroughly designed, operates according to a strict protocol and provides community members with the opportunity to receive effective Cognitive Behaviour Psychotherapy with a high quality of provided services.