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Treatment of Adolescent PTSD: The Impact of Prolonged Exposure Versus Client‐Centered Therapy on Co‐Occurring Emotional and Behavioral Problems
Author(s) -
Zandberg Laurie,
Kaczkurkin Antonia N.,
McLean Carmen P.,
Rescorla Leslie,
Yadin Elna,
Foa Edna B.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of traumatic stress
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.259
H-Index - 134
eISSN - 1573-6598
pISSN - 0894-9867
DOI - 10.1002/jts.22138
Subject(s) - psychology , clinical psychology , sexual abuse , mental health , psychiatry , posttraumatic stress , randomized controlled trial , exposure therapy , conduct disorder , anxiety disorder , injury prevention , poison control , medicine , anxiety , environmental health
The present study evaluated secondary emotional and behavioral outcomes among adolescents who received prolonged exposure (PE‐A) or client‐centered therapy (CCT) for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in a randomized controlled trial. Participants were 61 adolescent girls (age: M = 15.33, SD = 1.50 years) with sexual abuse related PTSD seeking treatment at a community mental health clinic. Multilevel modeling was employed to evaluate group differences on the Youth Self‐Report (YSR) over acute treatment and 12‐month follow‐up. Both treatment groups showed significant improvements on all YSR scales from baseline to 12‐month follow‐up. Adolescents who received PE‐A showed significantly greater reductions than those receiving CCT on the Externalizing subscale ( d = 0.70), rule‐breaking behavior ( d = 0.63), aggressive behavior ( d = 0.62), and conduct problems ( d = 0.78). No treatment differences were found on the Internalizing subscale or among other YSR problem areas. Both PE‐A and CCT effectively reduced many co‐occurring problems among adolescents with PTSD. Although PE‐A focuses on PTSD and not on disruptive behaviors, PE‐A was associated with greater sustained changes in externalizing symptoms, supporting broad effects of trauma‐focused treatment on associated problem areas.