Changes in the perception of interpersonal relationships in successfully treated adolescent delinquent boys.

Successful psychotherapy with adolescent delinquent boys revealed significant improvement in the perception of interpersonal relationships on thematic stories to pictures selected to measure 3 areas of personality functioning (self-image, control of aggression, and attitude toward authority). People in the stories were seen as having more highly differentiated roles and relationships. These changes were highly correlated with improved academic performance (revealed on achievement tests) and improvement in overt behavior (reduction in antisocial behavior and better employment history). The results are consistent with many views regarding the nature of personality change in psychotherapy and strongly indicate that improvement in the perception of interpersonal relationships is associated with higher levels of overall performance and integration. Exactly how these changes are brought about during psychotherapy still remains to be explored. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)