Group Cohesion in Psychoeducational Groups with Latinos: Examining Cultural Correlates.

Abstract

Group psychotherapy is an effective therapeutic modality for the treatment of many mental health and related issues. Group therapy is cost-effective and could decrease barriers to mental health services for ethnic minority populations, including Latinx people. Group cohesion is a therapeutic factor associated with positive outcomes in group psychotherapy according to meta-analyses. While information exists regarding the associations of group cohesion to other variables that may affect the effectiveness of group psychotherapy, there is no published research exploring the relationships between group cohesion and the Latinx cultural correlates of acculturation, machismo, caballerismo, marianismo, personalismo, individualism, and collectivism. We analyzed pre- and post-data from 235 Latinx college students who participated in eight sessions of one of two types of psychoeducational groups (one for dating violence prevention and one for stress management), using a multivariate general linear model (GLM) examining the relationships between our gender and cultural variables on two total group cohesion measures (GCS and GSRS). This finding partially supports our hypotheses regarding the association between cultural correlates and group cohesion: collectivistic attitudes among Latinx group members were associated with improved group cohesion. These findings have relevance for the implementation of group psychotherapy with Latinx people.