Gruppenklima, Kohäsion, Allianz und Empathie als Komponenten der therapeutischen Beziehung in Gruppenpsychotherapien - Überprüfung eines Mehrebenen-Modells

The aim of this study was to examine the factor structure of a three factor-model of the therapeutic relationship within groups in a German sample. This model was identified by Johnson, Burlingame, Olsen, Davies and Gleave (2005), dividing the therapeutic relationship into positive bonding, positive working and negative relationship. 453 group members from 15 hospitals in Germany and Switzerland completed self-report measures (Group Climate Questionnaire, GCQ; Working Alliance Inventory, WAI; Therapeutic Factors Inventory, TFI; Empathy Scale, ES). The dimensional structure of the three factor-model was analyzed using LISREL. The test of model fit was analyzed for the whole clinical sample (N=438) and four randomized samples to ensure the model's robustness. Most of the fit indices revealed significant differences between the hypothesized model and the empirical data in four of the five tested samples. Nevertheless, Chi-square-difference-tests clearly demonstrated the predominance of the three factor-model compared to a more economical one factor-model assuming only one general factor -therapeutic relationship-. Exploratory Structure Equation Modeling (SEM) indicated a three factor structure comparable with the original three factor-model with only minimal modifications. As the analysis showed, the three factor-model could not be replicated completely. The basic structure of the model could be confirmed. The German-speaking sample also revealed high correlations between the four relationship factors (group climate, cohesion, alliance and empathy) and indicated that the three major factors (positive bonding, positive working and negative relationship) best described the complex relationships within group treatments.