Selecting members for group therapy: A validation study of the Group Selection Questionnaire

Group therapy has been demonstrated to be effective through a number of factors. Group theorists and researchers have attempted to identify client characteristics that would enable the clinician to determine a client's appropriateness for group therapy. Reviews of research have identified client expectancies and positive and negative interpersonal skills as promising predictors of group process, outcome and attrition. The Group Selection Questionnaire (GSQ) was created to provide clinicians with a short and useful tool to aid them in identifying potential members for therapy groups, and has shown positive preliminary results in the past. This study presents tentative support for the factor structure of the GSQ and uses the GSQ as a prediction of group processes, outcome, and attrition in early, middle, and late stages of counseling center groups in four major universities. Clients who expected more from group therapy tended to experience more cohesion and catharsis in middle and late stages of group. Clients who felt they demonstrated more dominant behaviors in group tended to experience less insight in the middle stage of group, yet indicated less avoidance in the group. The GSQ showed no relationship with outcome. Higher negative participation scores were related to longer stay in treatment. Implications of these findings are discussed as well as future research directions.