Abstract:Objective To observe the effect of group therapy on anxiety, depression and self-esteem in patients with malignant tumor of digestive tract based on the guidance of psychological screening. Methods Sixty-two digestive tract cancer patients with presence of psychological symptoms were enrolled in this study. The patients were divided into two groups: individual therapy group who received the treatment individually for 3 weeks (n = 31) and group therapy group who received the treatment as a group for 3 weeks (n = 31). Anxiety, depression and self-esteem in the two groups were evaluated after different therapeutic strategies. Results The two groups showed improvement in anxiety, depression and self -esteem, and the patients receiving group treatment benefited more when compared to the patients in the individual group, especially in self-esteem (p < 0.05). Conclusions Curative effect of group therapy is more beneficial, in aspect of anxiety, depression and self-esteem, in patients with malignant tumor of digestive tract based on the guidance of psychological screening when compared to individual therapy. Group therapy is an ideal therapeutic strategy which is worth clinical application.