Abstract

This study was conducted to compare the effects of group and individual formats of the unified protocol for transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders(UP). A diagnostically heterogeneous clinical sample of 43 undergraduates with a principal diagnosis of social anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, persistent depressive disorder, or obsessive-compulsive disorder participated in this study. Among them, 21 and 22 participants received an 8-session UP group and individual treatments, respectively. All of them completed outcome assessments at pre- and posttreatment and at 3-month follow-up. The UP group and individual treatments produced significant improvements on several outcome measures including clinical severity rating of the principal diagnosis at both posttreatment and follow-up. Participants in the individual treatment condition showed a significant increase in positive affect from baseline to post-treatment and follow-up, whereas those in the group treatment condition did not. On any clinically significant change indices, the UP group treatment was not significantly different from the UP individual treatment. These results support the notion that the effects of the UP group treatment are comparable to the UP individual treatment for Korean undergraduates with emotional disorders on almost all outcome measures, except for positive affect.