Premium
Description and Preliminary Outcomes of an In Vivo Exposure Group Treatment for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
Author(s) -
Porter Eliora,
Romero Erin G.,
Barone Melissa D.
Publication year - 2018
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.22285
Subject(s) - in vivo , demographics , depression (economics) , medicine , posttraumatic stress , exposure therapy , clinical psychology , beck depression inventory , psychology , psychiatry , anxiety , demography , microbiology and biotechnology , sociology , biology , economics , macroeconomics
Prolonged exposure (PE) therapy is traditionally delivered individually to patients. To engage more veterans in care, an in vivo exposure group treatment was developed in an urban VA medical center. This treatment represented a modification of the in vivo exposure portion of PE, with the addition of in‐session, therapist‐assisted in vivo exposures. Here, we describe this 12‐week treatment and present preliminary outcome data. Demographics and pre‐ and posttreatment scores on the PTSD Checklist–Specific (PCL‐S) and Beck Depression Inventory–II (BDI‐II) were extracted from a program evaluation database. The sample included veterans with a diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) who participated in the in vivo exposure group between October 2010 and March 2014 and had available treatment outcome data ( N = 43). The majority of participants in the sample were male ( n = 41, 95.3%) and Black ( n = 34, 79.1%). Participation in the in vivo group was associated with a significant decrease in PCL‐S scores, with a medium‐large effect size, t (42) = 5.35, p < .001, d = 0.73, and a significant decrease in BDI‐II scores, with a small effect size, t (38) = 2.55, p = .015, d = 0.23. Previous participation in an evidenced‐based treatment (EBT) was not associated with symptom change following the in vivo group. Findings suggest that in vivo exposure group therapy constitutes a promising intervention for individuals who decline EBTs or remain symptomatic after completing an EBT for PTSD. Further study of this treatment using a randomized controlled trial design is warranted.