Group therapy with normal college students

• Published in: Psychotherapy (Chicago, Ill.) Ill.), 1965, Vol.2 (3), p.114-116
• Main Authors: Johnsgard, Keith W, Muench, George A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: College Students; Colleges; Female; Group Psychotherapy; Human; Hygiene; Male
• ISSN: 0033-3204; 1939-1536
• DOI: 10.1037/h0088621

Ss were students in undergraduate college mental hygiene classes divided into control (N = 25, 12 female, 13 male) and experimental (N = 20, 14 female, 6 male) groups. All Ss had successfully completed at least 1 college psychology course, and were told that the present 13-wk course would be experimental and involve an unusual teaching procedure. CPI, Mooney Problem Check List, a self-disclosure questionnaire, a mental health questionnaire, and a semantic differential were administered at the beginning and at the end of the course. IBM type midterm and final examinations were used for assigned text book readings. Classes met for 50 min. 3 days a wk. The control group was taught by the traditional lecture-discussion method. The experimental group was divided in ½, each ½ meeting 3 hr/wk in an investigator's office at the counseling center. Focus for the experimental group was on feelings and attitudes rather than on content material. Results suggest that substantial positive changes in measured personality dimensions occurred in both groups. Analysis of degree of change showed that neither group changed more than the other. Comparison of midterm and final examinations showed no significant differences between means or SD.