TY - JOUR
T1 - Predictors and moderators of treatment outcome for single incident paediatric PTSD
T2 - a multi-centre randomized clinical trial
AU - de Roos, Carlijn
AU - Zijlstra, Bonne
AU - Perrin, Sean
AU - van der Oord, Saskia
AU - Lucassen, Sacha
AU - Emmelkamp, Paul
AU - de Jongh, Ad
N1 - Funding Information: The authors thank all the participants and their parents/caretakers, therapists, research assistants, involved mental health departments and all others who contributed to this study. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Background: With few RCTs having compared active treatments for paediatric PTSD, little is known about whether or which baseline (i.e. pre-randomization) variables predict or moderate outcomes in the evaluated treatments. Objective: To identify predictors and moderators of paediatric PTSD outcomes for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR) and Cognitive Behavioural Writing Therapy (CBWT). Method: Data were obtained as part of a multi-centre, randomized controlled trial of up to six sessions (up to 45 minutes each) of either EMDR therapy, CBWT, or wait-list, involving 101 youth (aged 8–18 years) with a PTSD diagnosis (full/subthreshold) tied to a single event. The predictive and moderating effects of the child’s baseline sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, and parent’s psychopathology were evaluated using linear mixed models (LMM) from pre- to post-treatment and from pre- to 3- and 12-month follow-ups. Results: At post-treatment and 3-month follow-up, youth with an index trauma of sexual abuse, severe symptoms of PTSD, anxiety, depression, more comorbid disorders, negative posttraumatic beliefs, and with a parent with more severe psychopathology fared worse in both treatments. For children with more severe self-reported PTSD symptoms at baseline, the (exploratory) moderator analysis showed that the EMDR group improved more than the CBWT group, with the opposite being true for children and parents with a less severe clinical profile. Conclusions: The most consistent finding from the predictor analyses was that parental symptomatology predicted poorer outcomes, suggesting that parents should be assessed, supported and referred for their own treatment where indicated. The effect of the significant moderator variables was time-limited, and given the large response rate (>90%) and brevity (<4 hours) of both treatments, the present findings suggest a focus on implementation and dissemination, rather than tailoring, of evidence-based trauma-focused treatments for paediatric PTSD tied to a single event.
AB - Background: With few RCTs having compared active treatments for paediatric PTSD, little is known about whether or which baseline (i.e. pre-randomization) variables predict or moderate outcomes in the evaluated treatments. Objective: To identify predictors and moderators of paediatric PTSD outcomes for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR) and Cognitive Behavioural Writing Therapy (CBWT). Method: Data were obtained as part of a multi-centre, randomized controlled trial of up to six sessions (up to 45 minutes each) of either EMDR therapy, CBWT, or wait-list, involving 101 youth (aged 8–18 years) with a PTSD diagnosis (full/subthreshold) tied to a single event. The predictive and moderating effects of the child’s baseline sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, and parent’s psychopathology were evaluated using linear mixed models (LMM) from pre- to post-treatment and from pre- to 3- and 12-month follow-ups. Results: At post-treatment and 3-month follow-up, youth with an index trauma of sexual abuse, severe symptoms of PTSD, anxiety, depression, more comorbid disorders, negative posttraumatic beliefs, and with a parent with more severe psychopathology fared worse in both treatments. For children with more severe self-reported PTSD symptoms at baseline, the (exploratory) moderator analysis showed that the EMDR group improved more than the CBWT group, with the opposite being true for children and parents with a less severe clinical profile. Conclusions: The most consistent finding from the predictor analyses was that parental symptomatology predicted poorer outcomes, suggesting that parents should be assessed, supported and referred for their own treatment where indicated. The effect of the significant moderator variables was time-limited, and given the large response rate (>90%) and brevity (<4 hours) of both treatments, the present findings suggest a focus on implementation and dissemination, rather than tailoring, of evidence-based trauma-focused treatments for paediatric PTSD tied to a single event.
KW - Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
KW - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
KW - Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT)
KW - children and adolescents
KW - moderation analysis
KW - trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85116203131&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2021.1968138
DO - https://doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2021.1968138
M3 - Article
C2 - 34621497
SN - 2000-8198
VL - 12
JO - European journal of psychotraumatology
JF - European journal of psychotraumatology
IS - 1
M1 - 1968138
ER -