NCJ Number
143095
Date Published
1991
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This paper reports on a study that examined the effectiveness of a brief group intervention for trait anxiety and depressive symptomatology in prisons.
Abstract
Subjects in the study were randomly assigned to one of two research conditions: experimental and wait-list control. Those in the experimental condition attended the intervention program being evaluated; those in the control group did not, but were assured they would receive treatment at a later stage if they still required it. Assessment measures of levels of trait-anxiety and depression were taken 3 weeks before the first session of the intervention program, and then 10 days, 6 weeks, and 12 weeks after the final session. A total of 37 subjects participated in the study and were drawn from the population of convicted male young offenders at Swinfen Hall (Lichfield, Staffordshire). The treatment program consisted of four 2-hour sessions based in cognitive behavioral interventions. The core of the intervention program was the teaching of participants to identify, critically evaluate, and change negative automatic cognitions and the dysfunctional assumptions and rules from which negative cognitions derive. Findings indicate that the group intervention program did achieve reductions in both trait anxiety and depressive symptomatology, at least among long-term male young offenders. 5 tables and 33 references