Evaluating the Outcomes of a Cognitive-Behavioral Group Intervention Model for Persons at Risk of Developing Mental Health Problems in Hong Kong: A Pretest-Posttest Study

Abstract

Objective: The authors investigated the effectiveness of a cognitive-behavioral group intervention in helping members deal with maladaptive physiological, cognitive, behavioral, and emotional responses to stressful life circumstances. Methods: Data on 32 clients’ measures of mental health, rational thinking, coping skills and in negative and positive emotions at pretest and posttest were analyzed. Results: Significant positive changes in mental health, rational thinking, and in negative and positive emotions were found. Although changes in coping skills did not reach a significant level, all items tended to a positive direction. Conclusion: The results suggest the effectiveness of a cognitive-behavioral group for Chinese clients in Hong Kong. However, when applying such a group model to Chinese people, social workers ought to pay particular attention to the research design, the group contents, and cultural issues such as the difficulty of Chinese people to “think about their thinking” and to externalize success and internalize failure.