Effectiveness of a Brief Psychotherapeutic Intervention for Employees With Psychosomatic and Psychosocial Complaints—Pilot Study of a Consultation Off the Workplace

Datos Bibliográficos

ID15519307
AutoresChristine Allwang (0000-0002-2874-6168, TUM Klinikum, autor de correspondencia), Birgitt Marten‐Mittag (0000-0002-8382-0615, TUM Klinikum), Birgitt Marten-Mittag, Andreas Dinkel (0000-0001-6587-1550, TUM Klinikum), Daniel Mauss (0000-0002-9699-5115, Heidelberg University), Claas Lahmann (0000-0003-0947-116X, University Medical Center Freiburg)
Año2020
Volumen11
Páginas00867-00867
Fecha de publicación2020-09-08
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaFrontiers in Psychiatry (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1664-0640 • E-ISSN: 1664-0640
EditorialFrontiers Media (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00867
PMID33101069
OpenAlexW3084070629
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas32

Employees' mental health impairments are a leading reason for sickness-leave and early retirement. This is why a large number of different intervention programmes have evolved in recent years with the aim of counteracting this development. Our study evaluates a short-term cognitive-behavioral psychotherapeutic intervention off the workplace. We investigated improvement of mental and physical health in psychologically strained employees of a white collar company. Depressive symptoms (PHQ-9), anxiety symptoms (GAD-7), somatic symptoms (PHQ-15), and perceived stress (PSQ-20) were assessed at the beginning and after the intervention. Patient satisfaction (recommendation - likeliness) was also measured after the intervention. In a second step, we have looked at potential determinants of therapy outcome. Changes in the symptom measures were assessed using t-tests, MANOVA, and Chi2-tests. Cohen's d was computed as effect size measure. One-hundred twenty-seven participants completed the assessment before, and 66 participants post intervention. Mean age of the participants was 44.6 (SD = 9.8) years, 54% were men. 89.7% of the patients attended one to five sessions. Depressive, anxiety, somatic symptoms, and perceived stress significantly declined from baseline to end of intervention. Effect sizes ranged from d = 0.49 (perceived stress) to d = 0.72 (depressive symptoms). Moreover, 93% of the patients stated that they were satisfied with the intervention and would recommend it to a friend. Previous uptake of psychiatric/psychotherapeutic treatment moderated the effect of the intervention on depressive symptoms, i.e., patients without previous experience showed a stronger reduction in symptoms of depression. The results tentatively suggest that the intervention is effective in reducing a broad range of psychological symptoms. Future research could investigate preferences and different outcomes of on-site and off-site work place interventions

Anxiety · Depression (economics · Depressive symptoms · Intervention (counseling · Mental health · Patient Health Questionnaire · Psychiatry · Psychosocial · Clinical Psychology · Healthcare professionals’ stress and burnout · Medicine · Mental Health Treatment and Access · Psychology · Workplace Health and Well-being