Effectiveness of Brief Group Interpersonal Psychotherapy in Reducing University Student's Depressive Symptoms and Its Effect on Attributional Style and Dysfunctional Attitudes

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of brief group interpersonal psychotherapy in reducing depressive symptoms, and its effect on attributional style and dysfunctional attitudes. Participants were 25 university students who scored 14 or higher on the Beck Depression Inventory-II. They were randomly assigned to two groups: 12 participants to the experimental group and 13 participants to the control group. All subjects also completed the Attributional Style Questionnaire and the Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale. Participants of the experimental group participated in 8 sessions of brief group interpersonal psychotherapy. The control group was placed on the waiting list. Results showed that brief group interpersonal psychotherapy may significantly decrease depressive symptoms and dysfunctional attitudes. However, this treatment failed to make attributional style significantly more positive. So, brief group interpersonal psychotherapy demonstrated effectiveness in decreasing depressive symptoms in university students and produced some changes in dysfunctional attitudes.