Sven Rabung

Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt · Institute of Psychology

To assess the current status of psychodynamic therapy (PDT) as an empirically supported treatment (EST), we carried out a pre-registered systematic umbrella review addressing the evidence for PDT in common mental disorders in adults, based on an updated model for ESTs. Following this model, we focused on meta-analyses of randomized controlled trial...

In this journal Malhi et al. recommended cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT), antidepressants, and counseling ahead of short-term psychodynamic therapy (STPP) referring to UK NICE guidelines for depression. However, these recommendations continue the ambiguous and therefore confusing NICE guidelines, which on the one hand list the above treatments as...

Introduction: The use of humor in psychotherapy is widely considered to improve therapy outcomes and typically depends on context, patient sensitivity, and the therapist's humor style. Different types of humor may impact treatment type, therapeutic alliance, and therapy outcome; however, evidence from psychotherapy sessions on the role of banter h...

The approach of evidence-based medicine has been extended to psychotherapy. More than 20 years ago, criteria for empirically supported psychotherapeutic treatments (ESTs) were defined. Meanwhile a new model for empirically supported psychotherapeutic treatments has been proposed. While the empirical status of psychodynamic therapy (PDT) was assesse...

Objective: Due to the coronavirus pandemic and crisis, psychotherapists around the world were forced to switch to video- or tele-based treatments overnight. To date, only a few studies on the effectiveness of video-based psychodynamic psychotherapy via the Internet exist. Therefore, the goal of the present study was to examine symptom improvement,...

Mental disorders represent a worldwide public health concern. Psychotherapies and pharmacotherapies are recommended as first line treatments. However, evidence has emerged that their efficacy may be overestimated, due to a variety of shortcomings in clinical trials (e.g., publication bias, weak control conditions such as waiting list). We performed...

In Germany, cognitive-behavioral therapy, psychodynamic therapy, and systemic therapy are scientifically and legally approved as suitable procedures for treating mental disorders. While all methods have provided empirical evidence of their effectiveness in adults according to defined criteria of the "Scientific Advisory Board for Psychotherapy" (in...

Background: Mentalization processes seem to be of high relevance for social learning and seem important in all psychotherapies. The exact role of mentalization processes in psychotherapy is still unknown. The aim of the present systematic review is to investigate whether mentalization is related to the therapeutic outcome and, if so, whether it ha...

Humor in psychotherapy is generally regarded as a positive and promoting instrument (Berk, 2001; Dimmer et al., 1990; Eisenman, 1992; Ellis, 1977; Fabian, 2002; Franzini, 2001; Fry Jr. & Salameh, 1987; Poland, 1971) although a number of researchers demand to use it with caution or even dissuade its use (Kubie, 1970; Marcus, 1990; Rosenheim & Golan,...

What to conclude from a non-randomized clinical trial comparing dialectical behavior therapy and mentalization-based treatment in patients with borderline personality disorder? - Patrick Luyten, Falk Leichsenring, Allan Abbass, Mark Hilsenroth, Sven Rabung, Christiane Steinert

Objective: Background regarding a recent debate between Cuijpers et al. (2019a, b) and the authors (Munder et al. 2019) about the efficacy of psychotherapy for depression is given. Method: A main reason for the discrepancy in Cuijpers et al.'s and our conclusions is discussed. Results: In our view the discrepancy is due, among other things, to a bl...

Equivalence testing: reversed hypotheses, margins, and the need for controlling researcher allegiance - Volume 49 Issue 5 - Falk Leichsenring, Allan Abbass, Mark Hilsenroth, Patrick Luyten, Sven Rabung, Christiane Steinert

Background Personality disorder is a severe health issue. However, the epidemiology of personality disorders is insufficiently described and surveys report very heterogeneous rates. Aims We aimed to conduct a meta-analysis on the prevalence of personality disorders in adult populations and examine potential moderators that affect heterogeneity. Met...

Aims The aim of this study was to reanalyse the data from Cuijpers et al. 's (2018) meta-analysis, to examine Eysenck's claim that psychotherapy is not effective. Cuijpers et al ., after correcting for bias, concluded that the effect of psychotherapy for depression was small (standardised mean difference, SMD, between 0.20 and 0.30), providing evid...

Equivalence and non-inferiority testing in psychotherapy research - Falk Leichsenring, Allan Abbass, Ellen Driessen, Mark Hilsenroth, Patrick Luyten, Sven Rabung, Christiane Steinert

For psychotherapy of mental disorders, presently several approaches are available, such as interpersonal, humanistic, systemic, psychodynamic or cognitive behavior therapy (CBT). Pointing to the available evidence, proponents of CBT claim that CBT is the gold standard. Some authors even argue for an integrated CBT-based form of psychotherapy as the...

The central idea in psychoanalytic conceptualizations is that psychopathology is regarded as an adaptation to inner and attachment‐related problems associated with impaired functioning or dynamic defenses against unbearable mental states. This basic assumption leads to a quite unique stance, in which symptoms—even the most cruel or irrational behav...

The chapter deals with psychodynamic therapeutic approaches to treating patients with problems in violence and aggression. Within psychodynamic therapies, two approaches can be differentiated: One is the more classic insight‐oriented approach and the other aims more to enhance personality functioning. After a description of the common principles of...

Objective: Pharmacotherapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), and psychodynamic therapy are most frequently applied to treat mental disorders. However, whether psychodynamic therapy is as efficacious as other empirically supported treatments is not yet clear. Thus, for the first time the equivalence of psychodynamic therapy to treatments establi...

Replicability of findings is an essential prerequisite of research. For both basic and clinical research, however, low replicability of findings has recently been reported. Replicability may be affected by research biases not sufficiently controlled for by the existing research standards. Several biases such as researcher allegiance or selective re...

Trotz stetig wachsender Evidenz für psychodynamische Therapie i. Allg. wird der empirische Status psychodynamischer Langzeittherapie weiterhin kontrovers diskutiert. Lange Zeit fehlten überzeugende Wirksamkeitsstudien zu psychodynamischer Langzeittherapie. Die vorliegende Arbeit gibt einen Überblick über die vorhandenen systematischen Reviews zur E...

Background: With regard to cluster B personality disorders, most psychotherapeutic treatments focus on borderline personality disorder. Evidence-based treatments for patients with other cluster B personality disorders are not yet available. Psychoanalytic-interactional therapy (PIT) represents a transdiagnostic treatment for severe personality dis...

Introduction: It is widely accepted that the quality of a study may affect its results. A possible influence of the studies' quality on the heterogeneity of the treatment effects will therefore be examined on the basis of studies being included in a recent meta-analysis on inpatient psychotherapy in German speaking countries. Material and methods...

Spontaneity has been defined as an adaptive response to varying situational conditions. In this regard, it may be considered as a major contributor to well-being and mental health which could play an essential role within the context of psychotherapy. Despite its potential importance empirical research on spontaneity has been lacking until recently...

Spontaneity has been defined as an adaptive response to varying situational conditions. In this regard, it may be considered as a major contributor to well-being and mental health which could play an essential role within the context of psychotherapy. Despite its potential importance empirical research on spontaneity has been lacking until recently...

For a systematic review and meta-analysis, three data-bases were searched for publications on controlled studies about the effectiveness of early intervention programs in German-speaking countries. Nine studies being presented in 28 manuscripts were included. In comparison to standard treatment, early intervention programs had a small effect on mat...

Although it is widely accepted that the quality of a study may affect its results, there is no agreed specific standard for assessing the quality of psychotherapy outcome studies. This study aims to review the existing variety of relevant quality assessment criteria. We identified relevant quality measures based on a systematic literature search. T...

Psychodynamic therapy (PDT) is an umbrella concept for treatments that operate on an interpretive-supportive continuum and is frequently used in clinical practice. The use of any form of psychotherapy should be supported by sufficient evidence. Efficacy research has been neglected in PDT for a long time. In this review, we describe methodological r...

Objective: Several studies document the effectiveness of psychotherapeutic hospital treatment in German speaking countries, although results show a considerable heterogeneity. Methods: Based on data from a comprehensive meta-analysis, we investigated the impact of potential study-level predictors on average treatment duration and average symptom se...

Hintergrund: In der psychosomatischen und psychotherapeutischen Versorgung und Forschung finden psychodiagnostische Instrumente Verwendung im Rahmen von Indikationsstellung, Behandlungsplanung, Verlaufsbeurteilung und -monitoring sowie Qualitätssicherung und Ergebnismessung. Bei der Auswahl dieser Instrumente sollten sowohl deren psychometrische Qu...

Background In Germany, inpatient psychotherapy plays a unique role in the treatment of patients with common mental disorders of higher severity. In addition to psychiatric inpatient services, psychotherapeutic hospital treatment and psychosomatic rehabilitation are offered as independent inpatient treatment options. This meta-analysis aims to provi...

Background: Since the mid-1970s, short-term psychodynamic psychotherapies (STPP) for a broad range of psychological and somatic disorders have been developed and studied. Early published meta-analyses of STPP, using different methods and samples, have yielded conflicting results, although some meta-analyses have consistently supported an empirical...

Trotz der bedeutsamen Rolle, die psychotherapeutische Krankenhausbehandlung im deutschsprachigen Raum in der Versorgung von Patienten mit psychischen Erkrankungen spielt, existiert bislang keine umfassende Evidenzsynthese für ihre Wirksamkeit. In ein systematisches Review konnten 103 Studien eingeschlossen werden, auf deren Grundlage im Rahmen eine...

Unlabelled: There is growing evidence from RCTs supporting the efficacy of both short-term (STPP) and long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (LTPP) for specific mental disorders. In a first series of meta-analyses, LTPP was shown to be superior to shorter forms of psychotherapy, especially in complex mental disorders. However, the evidence for LTPP...

Psychodynamically based brief psychotherapy is frequently used in clinical practice for a range of common mental disorders in children and adolescents. To our knowledge, there have been no meta-analyses to evaluate the effectiveness of these therapies. After a broad search, we meta-analyzed controlled outcome studies of short-term psychodynamic psy...

Psychotherapeutic hospital treatment is a traditionally important intervention in German speaking countries. Nonetheless, systematic evidence of its effectiveness is lacking. The present meta-analysis aims to integrate results of all available published and unpublished studies. 103 studies could be identified by electronic database search and hands...

Background The EU currently lacks reliable data on the prevalence and incidence of mental disorders in older people. Despite the availability of several national and international epidemiological studies, the size and burden of mental disorders in the elderly remain unclear due to various reasons. Therefore, the aims of the MentDis_ICF65+ study are...

There is growing evidence from randomized controlled trials supporting the efficacy of psychodynamic psychotherapy (PDT) in specific mental disorders. Yet the evidence for the efficacy of psychodynamic psychotherapy has not gone unchallenged. Several responses have addressed these concerns, showing that most of the criticism was not justified. Neve...

The aim of this research was to examine the extent to which the use of research-specific procedures in psychodynamic psychotherapy impacts upon treatment effectiveness and which variables moderate this potential relationship. Effects of audio/video recording of sessions, use of treatment manuals, and checks of treatment fidelity were examined. A me...

Despite growing evidence for the effectiveness of psychodynamic psychotherapy in general, the place of long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (LTPP) remains controversial. Outcome studies of LTPP have been lacking for a long time. This chapter reports on the first meta-analysis of the effectiveness of LTPP, defined as lasting at least 1 year or 50 s...

Based on the German original questionnaire of the "Hamburger modules for measuring generic aspects of psycho-social health in the therapeutic practice" (HEALTH-49) a Turkish speaking version (T-HEALTH-49) was cross-cultural sensitively developed. The psychometric properties have been analysed by means of a clinical sample of Turkish speaking patien...

Background: Treatment integrity is defined as the extent to which a treatment is carried out as intended. It includes several interrelated components (e.g. therapy adherence, therapist competence and therapy differentiation). Treatment integrity is regarded to play an essential role in psychotherapy outcome research. Objective: This article discuss...

Dose-effect relationship data suggest that short-term psychotherapy is insufficient for many patients with chronic distress or personality disorders (complex mental disorders). To examine the comparative efficacy of long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (LTPP) in complex mental disorders. We conducted a meta-analysis of controlled trials of LTPP fu...

The Health of the Nation Outcome Scales (HoNOS) is a clinician-rated instrument for the differentiated measurement of severity in patients with mental disorder. Item 8 of the instrument, assessing 'Other mental and behavioral problems', is particularly relevant for patients with affective disorders, anxiety disorders, and eating and personality dis...

No abstract available.

The Health of the Nation Outcome Scales (HoNOS) is an internationally-established clinician-rating instrument for the differential assessment of the severity of patients with mental disorders. The aim of this study was to examine the validity of the German version of the HoNOS (HoNOS-D). Evaluation of validity, including factor validity, convergent...

Zielsetzung: Mit der Internationalen Klassifikation von Funktionsfähigkeit, Behinderung und Gesundheit (ICF) steht seit 2001 ein theoretisches Modell zur Verfügung, um Beeinträchtigungen von Erkrankung und deren Krankheitsfolgen zu beschreiben. Vor diesem Hintergrund war es Zielsetzung der Studie, die Merkmale von funktionalen, sozialen und umweltb...

Rief and Hofmann (Nervenarzt 80:593-597) criticize in a very detailed comment our meta-analysis of long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (JAMA 300:1551-1565). Although our article clearly included information that our meta-analysis addressed long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy of at least 50 sessions or at least 1 year duration, Rief and Hofmann...

Hintergrund: Für die Rehabilitation einer Vielzahl körperlicher, aber auch psychischer Erkrankungen stellt die Lebensqualität ein zentrales Kriterium für das Behandlungsergebnis dar. Bisher liegen jedoch nur wenige Studien zur zentralen Frage vor, inwieweit dieser Outcomebereich in der Routine durch die behandelnden Ärzte und Therapeuten oder durch...

Quality of life is a major criterion of the outcome of psychotherapeutic interventions. The concept of quality of life emphasizes patient self-ratings. However, they can be burdensome or inappropriate in some cases. Therefore we have compared self-ratings and clinician-ratings of quality of life. Self- and clinician-ratings of the SF-8 (1-week reca...

Rief and Hofmann (Nervenarzt 80:593-597) criticize in a very detailed comment our meta-analysis of long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (JAMA 300:1551-1565). Although our article clearly included information that our meta-analysis addressed long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy of at least 50 sessions or at least 1 year duration, Rief and Hofmann...

[30.565 Zeichen + 3 Tabellen + 2 Abbildungen + Zusammenfassung/Abstract + Literaturverz.] ,2 Zusammenfassung

The HEALTH questionnaire, which originally consisted of 79 items, aims to assess generic aspects of psychosocial health. Based on large clinical and healthy samples (n = 1548 psychotherapy inpatients, n = 5630 primary-care patients), the questionnaire was shortened and psychometrically analyzed. The resulting 49-item questionnaire ("HEALTH-49") com...

Fragestellung: Ein Großteil der stationären psychotherapeutischen Versorgung findet im Versorgungssystem der medizinischen Rehabilitation statt. Für diesen Bereich werden in der vorliegenden Studie Unterschiede in der Ergebnisqualität zwischen Kliniken untersucht. Um dabei Confounder/Risikofaktoren, d. h. ungleich verteilte Patientenmerkmale, die m...

The place of long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (LTPP) within psychiatry is controversial. Convincing outcome research for LTPP has been lacking. To examine the effects of LTPP, especially in complex mental disorders, ie, patients with personality disorders, chronic mental disorders, multiple mental disorders, and complex depressive and anxiety...

The implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) has been proven to prolong the lives of patients with life-threatening ventricular arrhythmia. However, implant recipients must cope with numerous challenges. We studied the effects of specific coping strategies and the adaptability of coping in ICD implant recipients. This prospective study investig...

Fragestellung: Psychosoziale Faktoren beeinflussen Entstehung und Verlauf verschiedener, insbesondere chronischer Erkrankungen und stellen damit eine relevante Zielgröße rehabilitativer Maßnahmen dar. Um psychosoziale Aspekte in Diagnostik und Therapieplanung sowie in der Evaluation und Qualitätssicherung medizinischer Behandlungen angemessen berüc...

Control groups are widely regarded as a sine qua non of psychotherapy outcome research. However, they produce high costs and are not applicable to long-term studies. The authors address the issue of control groups in psychotherapy research in a novel way: They systematically study the changes occurring in psychiatric patients who did not receive an...

Zusammenfassung. Da soziale Angste bei stationar behandlungsbedurftigen Psychotherapiepatienten allgemein weit verbreitet sind, bestand das Ziel der vorliegenden Untersuchung in der psychometrischen Uberprufung der Social Phobia Scale (SPS) und der Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS) im stationaren Setting. Untersucht wurde eine Stichprobe von...

Background In psychodynamic theory, insight has traditionally been regarded as one of the main curative factors. It stands for a cognitive as well as emotional understanding of dysfunctional beliefs which may be pathogenic. It was the purpose of our study to investigate the developments of insight and pathogenic beliefs during the therapeutic proce...

To test the efficacy of short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (STPP) in specific psychiatric disorders, a meta-analysis of more recent studies was performed. Its importance is grounded on the inconsistent results of previous meta-analyses regarding short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (STPP) and the controversial discussion regarding the efficac...

Unter der Bezeichnung „Soziale Phobie” wurde erst vor relativ kurzer Zeit ein Beschwerdebild in die syndromalen Diagnosesysteme ICD-10 und DSM-IV aufgenommen, das durch Furcht vor peinlichen und demütigenden Erfahrungen im Kontakt mit anderen gekennzeichnet ist. Dennoch finden unserer Erfahrung nach soziale Phobien, ähnlich wie andere Beeinträchtig...

Group psychotherapy according to the "Goettingen model" (that is psychoanalytic, psychodynamic, or psychoanalytic-interactional group therapy) has proven its worth in clinical practice and is playing a major role in the field of group psychotherapy in the German speaking countries. It was the aim of the present study to empirically examine the trea...

Two types of social influence can be distinguished: norm-based influence occurs when social identity is salient and interpersonal influence occurs when personal identity is salient. In two experiments the impact of trait and state private self-awareness on interpersonal influence during face-to-face and computer-mediated communication (CMC) was inv...

At the Tiefenbrunn hospital, patients suffering from severe psychiatric and psychosomatic disorders are treated. The treatment concept is psychodynamically oriented. Psychopharmacological treatments are included if necessary. This article reports the results of the treatment of a sample of patients with schizophrenic and other psychotic disorders (...

Under the label of social phobia a complex of ailments was introduced into the syndromal diagnostic classification system of ICD-10 and DSM-IV, which is characterized by fear of embarrassing and humiliating experiences in relation to other persons. According to our experiences, however, social phobias and other problems in interpersonal relations a...

The efficacy of psychodynamic therapy is controversial. Previous meta-analyses have reported discrepant results. To test the efficacy of short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (STPP) in specific psychiatric disorders by performing a meta-analysis of more recent studies. We assessed outcomes in target problems, general psychiatric symptoms, and soci...

In a prospective multicenter study of coping, subjective well-being and objective course of the disease we recruited patients with life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias awaiting the implantation of a cardioverter defibrillator. All patients received a semistructured interview and a number of well validated self-assessment questionnaires. In addition...

Attachment style is an important variable of influence on general and disease specific quality of life. Insecure attachment may go along with increased autonomic vulnerability and with compromised social support and coping resources. Patients with atopic dermatitis often report interactions of the status and severity of their disease with psychic w...

Hintergrund: Bindungsmuster nehmen in Bezug auf die Lebensqualität Gesunder wie Kranker eine bedeutsame Rolle ein. Bindungsunsicherheit geht einher mit erhöhter vegetativer Reagibilität und behindert ein angemessenes Krankheits- und Hilfesuchverhalten. Neurodermitispatienten berichten zudem häufig eine Wechselwirkung zwischen der Schwere ihrer Erkr...