Treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder in children using cognitive behavioural writing therapy
- Författare
- Van der Oord, S., Lucassen, S., Van Emmerik, A. & Emmelkamp, P.
- Titel
- Treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder in children using cognitive behavioural writing therapy
- Utgivningsår
- 2010
- Tidskrift
- Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy
- Volym
- 17
- Häfte
- 3
- Sidor
- 240–249
- Sammanfattning
Abstract
OBJECTIVES:
This study evaluated the effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Writing Therapy (CBWT) in 23 children (age 8-18 years) in the Netherlands, who experienced a range of single and recurrent traumatic experiences. CBWT uses exposure, cognitive restructuring and social sharing.
METHODS:
At pre-test, post-test and follow-up, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, depressive symptoms, trauma-related cognitions and general behavioural problems were assessed.
RESULTS:
At post-test there was a significant reduction of all symptoms, and this effect was maintained at 6 months follow-up. The mean amount of treatment sessions needed was 5.5.
CONCLUSIONS:
This study shows that short-term CBWT is a potentially effective intervention for clinically referred traumatized children. There is now a clear need of establishing the effectiveness of CBWT in a randomized, controlled trial.
PRACTICE IMPLICATION:
This first study indicates CBWT is a promising treatment, which can easily be used in clinical practice.