A technology assessment report 1 on group therapy for the treatment of adult survivors of childhood abuse was abstracted in the Health Technology Assessment Database 2. Two studies met the inclusion criteria of the systematic review. Both studies assessed the utility of group therapy among adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse. The design and quality of these studies is not reported in the abstract. Retrieved studies were generally of low level evidence with methodological problems. In general, studies reported beneficial effects of group therapy interventions upon psychological well-being among adult survivors of abuse. Compared with no therapy or therapy of a short duration (less than six months), men sexually abused as children improved in global scores of psychological distress, interpersonal sensitivity, depression and psychoticism following group therapy of at least six months duration. Both short-term (<20 weeks) and long-term group therapy (50 weeks) benefited women sexually abused as children on measures of affect and self-esteem. No significant differences were found however between short- and long-term group therapy interventions.
Comment: The quality of evidence is downgraded by study quality (inadequate or unclear allocation concealment) and by imprecise results (few patients and wide confidence intervals).