1.
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Childhood Traumatic Loss: A Secondary Analysis of Symptom Severity and Treatment Outcome.
Unterhitzenberger, J, Sachser, C, Rosner, R
Journal of traumatic stress. 2020;(3):208-217
Abstract
Loss is a commonly experienced traumatic event among children. Although the experience of loss can potentially lead to posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), little is known about PTSS levels after traumatic loss versus other traumatic events. We investigated data from a randomized controlled trial (RCT) on trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) versus a waitlist condition for children with PTSS. In a secondary analysis, we compared participants who reported traumatic loss as their index event (n = 23) to those who reported the two most frequently reported index events in the RCT: sexual abuse (SA; n = 59) and physical violence (PV; n = 55). The index event was rated according to the participants' most distressing traumatic event reported on the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for Children and Adolescents. Participants who experienced traumatic loss reported fewer PTSS and better general functioning than those who reported SA. A subgroup RCT (n = 19) revealed TF-CBT to be highly effective in reducing PTSS in cases of traumatic loss, d = 1.69. The effect sizes for PTSS indicated that all three trauma groups benefited from TF-CBT. In the waitlist group, PTSS symptoms improved for SA and PV, ds = 0.76 and 0.98, respectively, but not for traumatic loss, d = 0.23. These findings suggest that TF-CBT is a feasible and promising treatment for children who experience PTSS after traumatic loss. The results are limited by the post hoc quality of the analyses and lack of a measure of grief in the RCT.
2.
Traumatic Life Events Prior to Alcohol-Related Admission of Injured Acute Care Inpatients: A Brief Report.
Peterson, R, Russo, J, Darnell, D, Wang, J, Ingraham, L, Zatzick, D
Psychiatry. 2015;(4):367-71
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Abstract
OBJECTIVE Approximately 30 million Americans present to acute care medical settings annually after incurring traumatic injuries. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depressive symptoms are endemic among injury survivors. Our article is a replication and extension of a previous report documenting a pattern of multiple traumatic life events across patients admitted to Level I trauma centers for an alcohol-related injury. METHOD This study is a secondary analysis of a nationwide 20-site randomized trial of an alcohol brief intervention with 660 traumatically injured inpatients. Pre-injury trauma history was assessed using the National Comorbidity Survey trauma history screen at the six-month time point. RESULTS Most common traumatic events experienced by our population of alcohol-positive trauma survivors were having had someone close unexpectedly die, followed by having seen someone badly beaten or injured. Of particular note, there is high reported prevalence of rape/sexual assault, and childhood abuse and neglect among physically injured trauma survivors. Additional trauma histories are increasingly common among alcohol-positive patients admitted for a traumatic injury. CONCLUSIONS Due to the high rate of experienced multiple traumatic events among acutely injured inpatients, the trauma history screen could be productively integrated into screening and brief intervention procedures developed for acute care settings.
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Randomized trial of trauma-focused group therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder: results from a department of veterans affairs cooperative study.
Schnurr, PP, Friedman, MJ, Foy, DW, Shea, MT, Hsieh, FY, Lavori, PW, Glynn, SM, Wattenberg, M, Bernardy, NC
Archives of general psychiatry. 2003;(5):481-9
Abstract
BACKGROUND Department of Veterans Affairs Cooperative Study 420 is a randomized clinical trial of 2 methods of group psychotherapy for treating posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in male Vietnam veterans. METHODS Vietnam veterans (360 men) were randomly assigned to receive trauma-focused group psychotherapy or a present-centered comparison treatment that avoided trauma focus. Treatment was provided weekly to groups of 6 members for 30 weeks, followed by 5 monthly booster sessions. Severity of PTSD was the primary outcome. Additional measures were other psychiatric symptoms, functional status, quality of life, physical health, and service utilization. Follow-up assessments were conducted at the end of treatment (7 months) and at the end of the booster sessions (12 months); 325 individuals participated in 1 or both assessments. Additional follow-up for PTSD severity was performed in a subset of participants at 18 and 24 months. RESULTS Although posttreatment assessments of PTSD severity and other measures were significantly improved from baseline, intention-to-treat analyses found no overall differences between therapy groups on any outcome. Analyses of data from participants who received an adequate dose of treatment suggested that trauma-focused group therapy reduced avoidance and numbing and, possibly, PTSD symptoms. Dropout from treatment was higher in trauma-focused group treatment. Average improvement was modest in both treatments, although approximately 40% of participants showed clinically significant change. CONCLUSIONS This study did not find a treatment effect for trauma-focused group therapy. The difference between the effectiveness and adequate dose findings suggests the possible value of methods to enhance the delivery of cognitive-behavioral treatments in clinical practice settings.