PMID- 25161816
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20150511
LR  - 20211021
IS  - 2162-3279 (Electronic)
IS  - 2162-3279 (Print)
VI  - 4
IP  - 4
DP  - 2014 Jul
TI  - Self-reported immature defense style as a predictor of outcome in short-term and 
      long-term psychotherapy.
PG  - 495-503
LID - 10.1002/brb3.190 [doi]
AB  - OBJECTIVE: Identification of pretreatment patient characteristics predictive of 
      psychotherapy outcome could help to guide treatment choices. This study evaluates 
      patients' initial level of immature defense style as a predictor of the outcome 
      of short-term versus long-term psychotherapy. METHOD: In the Helsinki 
      Psychotherapy Study, 326 adult outpatients with mood or anxiety disorder were 
      randomized to individual short-term (psychodynamic or solution-focused) or 
      long-term (psychodynamic) psychotherapy. Their defense style was assessed at 
      baseline using the 88-item Defense Style Questionnaire and classified as low or 
      high around the median value of the respective score. Both specific (Beck 
      Depression Inventory [BDI], Hamilton Depression Rating Scale [HDRS], Symptom 
      Check List Anxiety Scale [SCL-90-Anx], Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale [HARS]) and 
      global (Symptom Check List Global Severity Index [SCL-90-GSI], Global Assessment 
      of Functioning Scale [GAF]) psychiatric symptoms were measured at baseline and 
      3-7 times during a 3-year follow-up. RESULTS: Patients with high use of immature 
      defense style experienced greater symptom reduction in long-term than in 
      short-term psychotherapy by the end of the 3-year follow-up (50% vs. 34%). 
      Patients with low use of immature defense style experienced faster symptom 
      reduction in short-term than in long-term psychotherapy during the first year of 
      follow-up (34% vs. 19%). CONCLUSION: Knowledge of patients' initial level of 
      immature defense style may potentially be utilized in tailoring treatments. 
      Further research on defense styles as outcome predictors in psychotherapies of 
      different types is needed.
FAU - Laaksonen, Maarit A
AU  - Laaksonen MA
AD  - Department of Health, Functional Capacity and Welfare, National Institute for 
      Health and Welfare (THL) Helsinki, Finland.
FAU - Sirkia, Carlos
AU  - Sirkia C
AD  - Department of Health, Functional Capacity and Welfare, National Institute for 
      Health and Welfare (THL) Helsinki, Finland.
FAU - Knekt, Paul
AU  - Knekt P
AD  - Department of Health, Functional Capacity and Welfare, National Institute for 
      Health and Welfare (THL) Helsinki, Finland ; Biomedicum Helsinki Helsinki, 
      Finland ; Social Insurance Institution Helsinki, Finland.
FAU - Lindfors, Olavi
AU  - Lindfors O
AD  - Department of Health, Functional Capacity and Welfare, National Institute for 
      Health and Welfare (THL) Helsinki, Finland.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Randomized Controlled Trial
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
DEP - 20140509
PL  - United States
TA  - Brain Behav
JT  - Brain and behavior
JID - 101570837
SB  - IM
MH  - Adult
MH  - Affect
MH  - Anxiety Disorders/psychology/*therapy
MH  - *Defense Mechanisms
MH  - Female
MH  - Follow-Up Studies
MH  - Humans
MH  - Male
MH  - Middle Aged
MH  - Mood Disorders/psychology/*therapy
MH  - *Personality
MH  - Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
MH  - Psychotherapy/*methods
MH  - Self Report
MH  - Surveys and Questionnaires
MH  - Treatment Outcome
MH  - Young Adult
PMC - PMC4075638
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - Anxiety
OT  - depression
OT  - outcome
OT  - psychotherapy
EDAT- 2014/08/28 06:00
MHDA- 2015/05/12 06:00
PMCR- 2014/07/01
CRDT- 2014/08/28 06:00
PHST- 2013/02/04 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2013/09/12 00:00 [revised]
PHST- 2013/10/15 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2014/08/28 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2014/08/28 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2015/05/12 06:00 [medline]
PHST- 2014/07/01 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - 10.1002/brb3.190 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Brain Behav. 2014 Jul;4(4):495-503. doi: 10.1002/brb3.190. Epub 2014 May 9.