A recent article reviewed 36 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to examine the use of “first-line” psychotherapy treatment for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in military personnel and veterans. The article included 5 RCTs using Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) and 4 RCTs using Prolonged Exposure therapy (PE), two cognitive-behavioral therapies considered “treatments of choice” for PTSD. The authors found that both CPT and PE had large treatment effect sizes and outperformed both waitlist and treatment-as-usual (TAU) conditions. Up to 70% of participants reported some symptom improvement, but a sizeable number of participants did not. In addition, approximately 66% of participants retained their PTSD diagnosis after treatment. When CPT and PE were compared with active control conditions (such as present-centered therapy), similar levels of symptom improvement were observed.
The authors highlight a need to improve existing treatments, a need for the development of novel treatment strategies, a need to include patient-defined metrics of ‘improvement’ in future research, and a need to better understand factors influencing treatment engagement and retention.
To learn more, visit: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280666600_Psychotherapy_for_Military-Related_PTSD_A_Review_of_Randomized_Clinical_Trials
Reference: Steenkamp, M.M., Litz, B.T., Hoge, C.W., & Marmar, C.R.7 (2015). Psychotherapy for Military-Related PTSD: A Review of Randomized Clinical Trials.
Journal of the American Medical Association, 314(5), 489-500.
Contributor:
Charity Tabol, Ph.D., HSPP
West Lafayette, Indiana
"PsychBytes” is a weekly educational resource from the Indiana Psychological Association (IPA) provided for psychologists, their colleagues and their patients.
