Variables related to therapeutic dropout in a group adaptation of the unified protocol for the transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders. a preliminar study

Due to the high number of people requesting psychological help and the scarcity of professional resources available to many psychological assistance services, it is necessary to promote the implementation of therapeutic modalities that optimize these resources; a promising alternative is the group adaptation of Barlow's unified protocol (Barlow et al., 2018). However, it is necessary to identify the patients who can most likely benefit from this group protocol, and which are the variables that characterize those with a higher risk of abandoning this type of intervention. This study was carried out on a total sample of 54 people who initiated a group adaptation of Barlow's Unified Protocol, in the Psychological Assistance Service of the Pontifical University of Salamanca. A group of patients who completed the treatment (n = 37) was compared with a group who abandoned it at some point (n = 17). Measures of anxiety, depression, personality variables, quality of life, interference and self-compassion were taken. The results indicate the presence of statistically significant differences in anxiety symptoms and the level of interference of the problem in daily life, these being more severe in the group that abandoned treatment; patients who complete the treatment, score significantly higher in the shared humanity variable, involved in the processes of empathy and belonging to the group; likewise, differences are observed, at the limit of statistical significance, in the depression and quality of life variables, with the patients in the group that abandoned treatment obtaining the highest scores in depression and the lowest in quality of life. These preliminary results show some characteristics that can be used to identify, in an initial assessment, the possible beneficiaries of this format and optimize the therapeutic alternatives offered.