Group climate temporally precedes member improvement in emotional cultivation groups for youth

Objective: This study investigated group climate dynamics and their impact on social adjustment in therapy groups for youth. Method: A total of 536 children and adolescents who were significantly depressed compared to norms, participated in 95 therapy groups in Taiwanese schools. We employed dynamic structural equation modeling to analyze session-to-session associations of group engagement and conflict and their effects on weekly changes in social adjustment, as rated by group members and leaders. Results: Contrary to our hypothesis, no reciprocal association was found between engagement and social adjustment. However, previous session engagement (b = 0.81, 95% CI [0.553, 1.075]) and conflict (b = 1.14, 95% CI [0.825, 1.515]) were positively associated with current social adjustment in the current week. A negative association was identified between prior engagement and current conflict (b = −0.61, 95% CI [−0.923, −0.351]), while previous conflict positively influenced current engagement (b = 1.53, 95% CI [1.116, 2.029]), suggesting a negative feedback loop (e.g., high engagement leads to low conflict, which leads to low engagement, which leads to high conflict, which leads to high engagement) that maintains group climate stability. Conclusions: Group climate plays a crucial role in youth group therapy, influencing members’ social adjustment and demonstrating a dynamic interplay that supports climate homeostasis.