Psychological therapies for children and adolescents exposed to trauma

Abstract

The meta-analyses in this review provide some evidence for the effectiveness of psychological therapies in prevention of PTSD and reduction of symptoms in children and adolescents exposed to trauma for up to a month. However, our confidence in these findings is limited by the quality of the included studies and by substantial heterogeneity between studies. Much more evidence is needed to demonstrate the relative effectiveness of different psychological therapies for children exposed to trauma, particularly over the longer term. High-quality studies should be conducted to compare these therapies.

Comparison of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy, cognitive behavioral writing therapy, and wait‐list in pediatric posttraumatic stress disorder following single‐incident trauma: a multicenter randomized clinical trial

“…No differences were found between EMDR and CBWT for the primary outcomes (PTSD), and most of the secondary outcomes at posttreatment, and 3‐ and 12‐ month follow‐ups. The intention‐to‐treat, between‐group, pre‐to‐post treatment effect sizes for EMDR and CBWT on child‐reported PTSD symptoms ( d = 1.27; d = 1.24, respectively) were larger than the mean posttreatment between‐group effect sizes for psychological interventions reported in recent meta‐analytic reviews of the child PTSD literature (Standard Mean Difference/Hedge's g = −.42 to .83, Gillies et al., ; Morina et al., respectively).…”

“…Also, Jaberghaderi et al (2004) did not use blind assessors or independent fidelity checks; only one trial used diagnostic interviews (Diehle et al, 2014); and the longest follow-up was only three months (De Roos et al, 2011). Given the overall quality of the evidence for EMDR in youth was low, further comparative trials are needed (Gillies et al, 2016;Morina, Koerssen, & Pollet, 2016).…”

Mechanisms of change in psychological interventions for posttraumatic stress symptoms: A systematic review with recommendations

“…Psychological interventions are able to alleviate posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) among adults (Cusack et al 2016) as well as children and adolescents (Dorsey et al 2017;Gillies et al 2016). Meta-analyses among adults find large effects for symptom reduction with trauma-focused psychological treatments, which directly address memories, thoughts, and feelings related to the traumatic event (Cusack et al 2016;Watts et al 2013).…”

The effectiveness of psychosocial interventions in war-traumatized refugee and internally displaced minors: systematic review and meta-analysis

“…To summarize, we saw that therapeutic effects for war-affected displaced minors stay behind the expected range, which is especially discouraging given the fact that they often decrease on the long run, even one month post-treatment (Gillies et al, 2016, 2013; Schauer, 2008). Additionally, an overall zero effect indicates that, while some subjects might benefit from a treatment, it probably has negative effects on others; a fact that has been discussed in the past (Ertl & Neuner, 2014; Tol et al, 2014).…”