Brief treatment for elementary school children with disaster‐related posttraumatic stress disorder: A field study

Abstract

Effective psychological intervention is needed to help children recover from disaster-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This controlled study evaluated the effectiveness of a brief intervention for disaster-related PTSD. At one-year follow-up of a prior intervention for disaster-related symptoms, some previously treated children were still suffering significant trauma symptoms. Using a randomized lagged-groups design, we provided three sessions of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) treatment to 32 of these children who met clinical criteria for PTSD. The Children's Reaction Inventory (CRI) was the primary measure of the treatment's effect on PTSD symptoms. Associated symptoms were measured using the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS) and the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI). Treatment resulted in substantial reductions in both groups' CRI scores and in significant, though more modest, reductions in RCMAS and CDI scores. Gains were maintained at six-month follow-up. Health visits to the school nurse were significantly reduced following treatment. Psychosocial intervention appears useful for children suffering disaster-related PTSD. Conducting controlled studies of children's treatment in the postdisaster environment appears feasible.

A wait-list controlled pilot study of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) for children with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms from motor vehicle accidents

“…However, Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) holds some promise (Silverman et al, 2008). Of the three controlled studies that support the efficacy of EMDR with children (Ahmad, Larsson, & Sundelin-Wahlsten, 2007;Chemtob, Nakashima, & Carlson 2002;Jaberghaderi, Greenwald, Rubin, Zand & Dolatabadi, 2004), only one involved exposure to a single traumatic event (i.e., hurricane Iniki) (Chemtob et al, 2002). Three uncontrolled group studies (Fernandez, 2007;Oras, De Ezpeleta & Ahmad, 2004;Puffer, Greenwald & Elrod, 1998) and several case reports (Cocco & Sharpe, 1993;Greenwald, 1994;Pellicer, 1993;Tufnell, 2005) have also supported the use of EMDR with child and adolescent populations.…”

Is EMDR an Evidenced-Based Treatment for Depression? A Review of the Literature

“…Only one RCT found that comorbid depression did not improve when PTSD was treated with EMDR, relaxation or biofeedback (Silver, Brooks, & Obenchain, 1995). All of the case studies and case series found an improvement in depressive symptoms when PTSD was successfully treated with EMDR (Chemtob, Nakashima, & Carlson, 2002;Korn & Leeds, 2002;Lobenstine & Courtney, 2013;Montefiore, Mallet, Levy, Allilaire, & Pelissolo, 2007;Raboni, Tufik, & Suchecki, 2006;Schneider et al, 2008;Steven M. Silver, Rogers, & Russell, 2008;Tarquinio, Schmitt, & Tarquinio, 2011;Tarquinio, Schmitt, Tarquinio, Rydberg, & Spitz, 2011). Although each case study on its own is not generalizable due to the nature of the experimental design, the growing number of such reports adds weight to the premise that, in people with PTSD, comorbid depression can be alleviated by treatment with EMDR.…”

“…The papers are missing the occasional piece of information, such as attrition (Chemtob et al, 2002), equal treatment of the groups (Hogberg et al, 2007), homogeneity of the groups (Ironson et al, 2002) and failure to treat both groups the same during the treatment phase (van der Kolk et al, 2007), but overall there are few concerns about the reports. As is often the case when psychotherapy is compared to a medication regime, in the study by van der Kolk and colleagues, participants in the different groups received different amounts of input from professionals.…”

“…To report depression symptoms seven papers used the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), one used the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD) (Hogberg et al, 2007), one used the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) (Chemtob et al, 2002) and one did not report the scales used (Silver et al, 1995).…”

Ego Strengthening and Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

“…Although anxiolytic, anticonvulsant, antipsychotic and antidepressant drugs have been tried, none have been consistently associated with improvement [2]. Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) is being increasingly utilized as a valid method of treatment for this distressing condition [3][4][5][6][7]. Ego Strengthening (ES) is a sequence of simple psychotherapeutic suggestions given under hypnosis [8].…”