Exploration of experiences in therapeutic groups for patients with severe mental illness: development of the Ferrara group experiences scale (FE- GES)

BMC Psychiatry

Stefan Priebe⁴  Catherine Carr⁴  Marco Rigatelli²  Maria Moscara²  Luciano Bonatti⁵  Luciana Marmai¹  Bruno Biancosino¹  Luigi Grassi¹  Rosangela Caruso³ 

[1] Department of Mental Health and Drug Abuse, Ferrara Health Agency, Ferrara, Italy;Department of Neuroscience, Section of Psychiatry, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy;Department of Behavior and Communication, Section of Psychiatry, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy;Unit for Social and Community Psychiatry, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK;Department of Mental Health and Drug Abuse, Bologna Health Agency, Bologna, Italy

关键词: Community mental health care;    Severe mental illness;    Patient experiences;    Group therapy;   

Others  :  1123951
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-244X-13-242

 received in 2013-03-26, accepted in 2013-09-25,  发布年份 2013

【 摘 要 】

Background

Group therapies are routinely provided for patients with severe mental illness. The factors important to the group experience of patients are still poorly understood and are rarely measured. To support further research and practice, we aimed to develop a questionnaire that captures how patients experience groups within a community mental health context.

Methods

An initial pool of 39 items was conceptually generated to assess different aspects of group experiences. Items were completed by 166 patients with severe mental illness attending group therapies in community mental health services in Italy. Patients with different psychiatric diagnoses who attended at least 5 group sessions were included. An exploratory factor analysis was used to identify different dimensions of group experiences and to reduce the number of items for each dimension.

Results

The resulting questionnaire has five subscales: 1) sharing of emotions and experiences, 2) cognitive improvement, 3) group learning, 4) difficulties in open expression and 5) relationships. Each subscale has 4 items. The scale and sub-scales have good internal consistency.

Conclusions

The Ferrara Group Experiences Scale is conceptually derived and assesses dimensions of group experience that are theoretically and practically relevant. It is brief, easy to use and has good psychometric properties. After further validation, the scale may be used for research into patient experiences across different group therapy modalities and for evaluation in routine care.

【 授权许可】

   
2013 Caruso et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

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