Males and females are different in their interactional behavior, their way of suffering, and
their way of expressing themselves. It is therefore supposed that they react differently in group
settings. This includes the degree to which they experience burdens and side effects of group
psychotherapy. The objective of the study was to explore side effects of group psychotherapy
in relation to gender. Seventy one patients in cognitive behavioral group psychotherapy were
assessed with the UE G scale (unwanted events in groups). Burdens or side effects were
reported by 98.6% of patients, severe and extremely severe burdens by 43.7% of patients. The
highest average scores were found for “I was afraid not to know how to proceed in the future
(1,34)”, “I realized how complicated everything is (1,32)”, “I have experienced the ongoing group
therapy as burdensome (1,29)”, and “I have learned that group therapy is not my thing (1,01)”.
Males score higher in their global judgement that group therapy was burdensome. There were no
further signifi cant differences in any of the specifi c items. The data suggest that side effects are
a regular companion of group psychotherapy. A major negative effect of group psychotherapy
is demoralization because of the observation of other patients, their problems and problem
explanations. This is the same for both sexes. Research is needed on how to minimize burdens
for patients.
