A New Study Suggests that Psychological Therapies Improve Life for Children with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is highly prevalent in children and adolescents who have experienced traumatic events such as child abuse, violence, road accidents or natural disasters. In children, post-traumatic stress disorder can lead to delayed development and behavioral problems. More generally, it is associated with anxiety, depression and suicidal tendencies. The aim of this review was to examine the effectiveness of all psychological therapies for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder in children and adolescents.
In this first systematic review of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in young people age three to eighteen, researchers found that children diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder showed signs of improvement up to three months following treatment. The psychological therapies used in the review were cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), exposure-based, psychodynamic, narrative, supportive counseling, and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR).
However, no systematic review analyzing the potential benefits of these therapies has been undertaken until now. This review published in The Cochrane Library focused on 14 studies that together involved 758 children aged 3-18 suffering from post-traumatic … Read More... “Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Treatments Effective?”