An Examination of Social Support and PTSD Treatment Response During Prolonged Exposure

Price, Matthew; Lancaster, Carol; Grös, Daniel F.; Legrand, Alison C.; Stolk-Cooke, Katherine van; Acierno, Ron

doi:10.1080/00332747.2017.1402569

Cited by 58 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 46 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…At the symptom level, more contact predicted less severe flashbacks, behavioural avoidance, loss of interest, estrangement, and numbing. These findings build on those of a previous study of the association between PTSD and social support conducted in a small sample of veterans who had completed residential PTSD treatment (Laffaye et al, 2008), and complement results found in active-duty service members (Shallcross et al, 2016), outpatients with PTSD (Price et al, 2018), and MVA survivors (LeBlanc et al, 2016).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

“…This premise is supported by previous research showing that family support for treatment increases veterans' likelihood of staying in treatment (Meis et al, 2019) and that veterans with more social support were less likely to endorse the belief that it is up to them to handle their problems and more likely to seek treatment (Graziano & Elbogen, 2017). Further, family involvement in PTSD care was associated with more PTSD symptom reduction (Laws, Glynn, McCutcheon, Schmitz, & Hoff, 2017), and greater social support predicts better PTSD treatment response (Price, Gros, Strachan, Ruggiero, & Acierno, 2013;Price et al, 2018;Shnaider, Sijercic, Wanklyn, Suvak, & Monson, 2017). Notably, in line with the social causation model, Price et al (2018) also found that social support moderated PTSD outcome but that PTSD did not moderate increases in social support during treatment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Further, family involvement in PTSD care was associated with more PTSD symptom reduction (Laws, Glynn, McCutcheon, Schmitz, & Hoff, 2017), and greater social support predicts better PTSD treatment response (Price, Gros, Strachan, Ruggiero, & Acierno, 2013;Price et al, 2018;Shnaider, Sijercic, Wanklyn, Suvak, & Monson, 2017). Notably, in line with the social causation model, Price et al (2018) also found that social support moderated PTSD outcome but that PTSD did not moderate increases in social support during treatment. Future studies can assess whether interventions for increasing social connectedness improve treatment engagement and outcome among veterans seeking intensive treatment for PTSD.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Heterogeneity of posttraumatic stress symptomatology and social connectedness in treatment-seeking military veterans: a longitudinal examination

Sippel

Watkins

Pietrzak

et al. 2019

European Journal of Psychotraumatology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Elucidating whether PTSD symptoms predict poorer social connectedness over time (i.e. social erosion) and/or that poor social connectedness contributes to maintenance of PTSD (i.e. social causation) has implications for PTSD treatment and relapse prevention. Most extant research has been cross-sectional and examined overall PTSD symptoms. Evidence of longitudinal associations among heterogeneous PTSD symptom clusters and social connectedness could provide insight into more nuanced targets for intervention. Using data from 1,491 U.S. military veterans in residential treatment for PTSD at 35 Department of Veterans Affairs facilities, we evaluated a two-wave cross-lagged panel model including a five-factor model of PTSD and two aspects of social connectedness. PTSD, quality of connectedness (i.e. degree of distress related to interpersonal conflict), and structural social support (i.e. number of days of contact with supportive loved ones) in the past 30 days were assessed at baseline and 4 months after discharge. The largest effect was greater severity of PTSD dysphoric arousal symptoms (i.e. irritability/anger, poor concentration, and sleep problems) at baseline predicting more conflict-related distress at follow-up (β = 0.43). Post-hoc symptom-level analyses indicated that irritability/anger drove this association. In addition, conflict-related distress predicted greater PTSD symptom severity across all five clusters (β’s = 0.10 to 0.14, p ’s < 0.01). More days of contact predicted lower severity of avoidance and numbing symptoms (β’s = −.05 and −.07, p ’s < 0.01), along with individual symptoms within these clusters, plus flashbacks. Results support both social erosion and social causation models. Engaging loved ones in veterans’ treatment and targeting dysphoric arousal symptoms, particularly anger and irritability, may improve long-term PTSD and relationship outcomes, respectively.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Heterogeneity of posttraumatic stress symptomatology and social connectedness in treatment-seeking military veterans: a longitudinal examination

Sippel

Watkins

Pietrzak

et al. 2019

European Journal of Psychotraumatology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Treatments are combined due to the lack of group differences. received PE, a higher level of social support over the course of treatment was related to larger reductions in PTSD symptom severity (Price et al, 2018). In the current study, PE was more efficient at reducing fear of intimacy and negative cognitions in social situations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prolonged Exposure and Sertraline Treatments for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Also Improve Multiple Indicators of Social Functioning

Graham

Garcia

Bergman

et al. 2020

Journal of Traumatic Stress

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Trauma survivors with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) frequently also suffer from difficulties in social functioning that range across emotional, cognitive, and environmental domains. A detailed evaluation of the differential impacts of effective PTSD treatments on social functioning is needed. Men and women (N = 200) with chronic PTSD received 10 weeks of prolonged exposure (PE) or sertraline in a randomized clinical trial and were followed for 24 months. A secondary data analysis examined changes in social functioning with regard to fear of intimacy; receipt of social support; and distress, avoidance, and negative cognitions in social situations. Effects were examined between treatments over time, controlling for baseline functioning. There were large, durable improvements across all indices. Compared to sertraline, PE was more efficient at reducing fear of intimacy and distress from negative social cognitions by posttreatment, ds = 0.94–1.14. Patients who received sertraline continued to improve over the course of follow‐up, ds = 0.54–1.17. The differential speed of therapeutic effects may argue for more direct mechanisms in cognitive behavioral interventions versus cascade effects in serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Notably, both treatments produced substantial social benefits for trauma survivors with social functioning difficulties, and effect sizes were comparable to typical reductions in PTSD, depression, and anxiety.

show abstract

“…The authors questioned if perceived social support can be increased by therapy and stated that more research is needed in this field. In another examination, a positive association was found between social support during therapy and reduction of PTSD symptoms, as well as an increase in social support (34).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effectiveness of a Multimodal, Day Clinic Group-Based Treatment Program for Trauma-Related Disorders: Differential Therapy Outcome for Complex PTSD vs. Non-Complex Trauma-Related Disorders

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: The effectiveness of the psychotherapeutic treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder is evidence-based and generally considered proven. However, the effectiveness of multimodal, group-based day clinic treatment programs has rarely been investigated. Moreover, there is no consensus in the literature concerning the question whether psychotherapeutic approaches for trauma-related disorders are also applicable for patients with complex PTSD (cPTSD). The aim of the study was to evaluate our multimodal group-based treatment program regarding a change of psychiatric burden, a change of protective factors, and possible differences in therapy outcome for patients with or without cPTSD.Methods: The group-based treatment for patients with trauma-related disorders was examined in 66 patients who filled out the following questionnaires in the first and in the last week of treatment: Essen Trauma Inventory (ETI), Screening for complex PTSD (SkPTBS), Patient Health Questionnaire—somatization module (PHQ-15), Beck Depression Inventory—Revised (BDI-II), Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI), and Questionnaire on social support (F-SozU).Results: The treatment was shown to significantly reduce depressive symptoms (p < 0.001, d = -0.536) and increase posttraumatic growth (New Possibilities: p = 0.004, d = 0.405; Personal Strength: p = 0.005, d = 0.414). For patients with cPTSD, depressive (p = 0.010, d = -0.63) as well as cPTSD symptoms (p = 0.020, d = -0.796) were significantly reduced; perceived social support was increased after day clinic treatment (p = 0.003, d = 0.61). Contrary to our expectations, somatoform symptoms were increased after therapy.Conclusions: The present work expands previous research by demonstrating that multimodal group-based, day clinic treatment is effective in the treatment of trauma-related disorders, also in their complex form.

show abstract

An Examination of Social Support and PTSD Treatment Response During Prolonged Exposure

Abstract: These findings suggest that social support and PTSD symptoms are related throughout treatment. Social support moderated the change in PTSD symptoms, whereas PTSD symptoms did not moderate changes in social support.

Cited by 58 publications

References 46 publications

Heterogeneity of posttraumatic stress symptomatology and social connectedness in treatment-seeking military veterans: a longitudinal examination

Heterogeneity of posttraumatic stress symptomatology and social connectedness in treatment-seeking military veterans: a longitudinal examination

Prolonged Exposure and Sertraline Treatments for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Also Improve Multiple Indicators of Social Functioning

Effectiveness of a Multimodal, Day Clinic Group-Based Treatment Program for Trauma-Related Disorders: Differential Therapy Outcome for Complex PTSD vs. Non-Complex Trauma-Related Disorders

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About