In order to compare the effectiveness of different antipsychotic drugs in the treatment of schizophrenia it is very important to evaluate subjective response and compliance in patient cohorts treated according to routine clinical practice. Outpatients with schizophrenia entered this prospective, naturalistic study when they received a new prescription for an antipsychotic drug. Treatment assignment was based on purely clinical criteria, as the study did not include any experimental intervention. Patients treated with olanzapine, risperidone or haloperidol were included in the analysis. Subjective response was measured using the 10-item version of the Drug Attitude Inventory (DAI-10), and treatment compliance was measured using a physician-rated 4 point categorical scale. A total of 2128 patients initiated treatment (as monotherapy) with olanzapine, 417 with risperidone, and 112 with haloperidol. Olanzapine-treated patients had significantly higher DAI-10 scores and significantly better treatment compliance compared to both risperidone- and haloperidol-treated patients. Risperidone-treated patients had a significantly higher DAI-10 score compared to haloperidol-treated patients. Subjective response and compliance were superior in olanzapine-treated patients, compared to patients treated with risperidone and haloperidol, in routine clinical practice. Differences in subjective response were explained largely, but not completely, by differences in incidence of EPS.

Therapeutic factors in group therapy are a series of action mechanisms that contribute to change in therapeutic processes. They are inherent to group dynamics and interaction, yet are not necessarily associated with a therapist’s intervention. These factors are elemental components of a therapeutic change phenomenon derived from the group matrix.We present five studies that thoroughly evaluate these therapy factors within groups of patients diagnosed with psychosis. All factors are measured with the Yalom Q-sort questionnaire that defines factors based on their value given by the patients. We evaluate and report these value differences between group context, patient diagnosis, and therapeutic orientation.Therapeutic factors act independently of diagnoses, theoretical framework, and classification; they are intrinsic components of unique group dynamics. In general, the factor claimed to be most important in patients with severe mental disorders was the instillation of hope.