A field test of group based exposure therapy with 102 veterans with war-related posttraumatic stress disorder

J Trauma Stress. 2008 Apr;21(2):150-7. doi: 10.1002/jts.20326.

Abstract

Group-based exposure therapy (GBET) was field-tested with 102 veterans with war-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Nine to 11 patients attended 3 hours of group therapy per day twice weekly for 16-18 weeks. Stress management and a minimum of 60 hours of exposure was included (3 hours of within-group war-trauma presentations per patient, 30 hours of listening to recordings of patient's own war-trauma presentations and 27 hours of hearing other patients' war-trauma presentations). Analysis of assessments conducted by treating clinicians pre-, post- and 6-month posttreatment suggests that GBET produced clinically significant and lasting reductions in PTSD symptoms for most patients on both clinician symptoms ratings (6-month posttreatment effect size delta = 1.22) and self-report measures with only three dropouts.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial
  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Ambulatory Care
  • Cohort Studies
  • Combat Disorders / epidemiology
  • Combat Disorders / psychology
  • Combat Disorders / therapy*
  • Comorbidity
  • Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Humans
  • Implosive Therapy / methods*
  • Male
  • Manuals as Topic
  • Middle Aged
  • Patient Dropouts
  • Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
  • Psychotherapy, Group / methods*
  • Regression Analysis
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / epidemiology
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / psychology
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / therapy*
  • Treatment Outcome
  • United States / epidemiology
  • United States Department of Veterans Affairs
  • Veterans / psychology*
  • Veterans / statistics & numerical data