THE EFFECTIVENESS OF FAMILY CONSTELLATION THERAPY IN REDUCING PSYCHOPATHOLOGICAL SYMPTOMS IN A NATURALISTIC SETTING

Background: The aim of this study (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03233958) was to provide further evidence on the effectiveness and safety of family/systemic constellation therapy, a widely used but rarely investigated form of brief group psychotherapy. Subjects and methods: Altogether, 102 individuals from the general population were followed up 1- and 6 months after their participation in the 2-day intervention. Indicators of general and problem-area-specific psychopathology, interpersonal quality of life, meaning in life, and general wellbeing were assessed. Both statistical and clinical significance were considered, and active surveillance of potential iatrogenic effects was also conducted. Results: The data showed significant improvement post-intervention in the case of the vast majority of the 17 outcome variables. At 1-month follow-up, the magnitude of improvements was typically in the moderate range. The patterns were very similar at the 6- month follow-up, suggesting that most intervention benefits were sustained in the middle term. Sensitivity analyses showed no therapist effects across the three intervention providers. Analyses into clinical significance showed that the most reliable improvements occurred in relation to interpersonal quality of life and non-diagnosis-specific psychopathology, with approximately half of the participants showing reliable improvement. Iatrogenic effects were comparable - both in terms of frequency and severity - to those reported for other forms of psychotherapy. Conclusions: Findings of the present study point toward the safety and effectiveness of family constellation therapy in reducing a variety of psychopathological symptoms (e.g., depression and anxiety) and increasing general well-being. This effectiveness is especially remarkable when considering the brevity and cost-effectiveness of the intervention

Quality of life in personal social ecosystems: Further psychometric evaluation and Hungarian adaptation of the Experience in Personal Social Systems Questionnaire

Introduction: Hunger et al. (2014, 2015, 2017) developed the Experience in Personal Social Systems Questionnaire (EXIS.pers) to assess individuals’ perceived functioning in their personal ecosystems. Aims: The present study aims to 1) provide further data regarding this instrument’s psychometric characteristics that have not yet been investigated, as well as 2) describe the scale’s Hungarian adaptation. Methods: The present data set consisted of 400 questionnaires of 182 individuals recruited from the general population (83.8% female, Mage = 39.8 years, SDage = 9.3 years) participating in repeated assessments. The Brief Symptom Inventory, the SCOFF screening test, the Patient Health Questionnaire-15, the Meaning in Life Questionnaire, and the WHO Wel-being Index were used to investigate construct validity. Results: A bifactor structure of the EXIS.pers fitted the data best according to the confirmatory factor analytic models. The results confirmed the scalar invariance of the best fitting bifactor model across both sex and time.Internal consistency of both the subscale and total scores was good according to both traditional (Cronbach’s alpha) and more advanced (omega) indicators. Test-retest reliability with one- and five-month time lag was appropriate, as well. EXIS.pers scores showed significant inverse association with all 13 indicators of psychopathology and positive associations with both indicators of positive mental health suggestive of appropriate validity. Conclusions: The results indicate that the EXIS.pers can be used with confidence when comparing men and women or in studies involving repeated measures designs, and that the Hungarian version serves as a reliable and valid adaptation of the original instrument