Treatment of acute stress disorder: a randomized controlled trial.

@article{citeulike:2873893, abstract = {CONTEXT: Recent trauma survivors with acute stress disorder (ASD) are likely to subsequently develop chronic posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Cognitive behavioral therapy for ASD may prevent PTSD, but trauma survivors may not tolerate exposure-based therapy in the acute phase. There is a need to compare nonexposure therapy techniques with prolonged exposure for ASD. OBJECTIVE: To determine the efficacy of exposure therapy or trauma-focused cognitive restructuring in preventing chronic PTSD relative to a wait-list control group. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A randomized controlled trial of civilians who experienced trauma and who met the diagnostic criteria for ASD (N = 90) seen at an outpatient clinic between March 1, 2002, and June 30, 2006. INTERVENTION: Patients were randomly assigned to receive 5 weekly 90-minute sessions of either imaginal and in vivo exposure (n = 30) or cognitive restructuring (n = 30), or assessment at baseline and after 6 weeks (wait-list group; n = 30). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Measures of PTSD at the 6-month follow-up visit by clinical interview and self-report assessments of PTSD, depression, anxiety, and trauma-related cognition. RESULTS: Intent-to-treat analyses indicated that at posttreatment, fewer patients in the exposure group had PTSD than those in the cognitive restructuring or wait-list groups (33\% vs 63\% vs 77\%; P = .002). At follow-up, patients who underwent exposure therapy were more likely to not meet diagnostic criteria for PTSD than those who underwent cognitive restructuring (37\% vs 63\%; odds ratio, 2.10; 95\% confidence interval, 1.12-3.94; P = .05) and to achieve full remission (47\% vs 13\%; odds ratio, 2.78; 95\% confidence interval, 1.14-6.83; P = .005). On assessments of PTSD, depression, and anxiety, exposure resulted in markedly larger effect sizes at posttreatment and follow-up than cognitive restructuring. CONCLUSIONS: Exposure-based therapy leads to greater reduction in subsequent PTSD symptoms in patients with ASD when compared with cognitive restructuring. Exposure should be used in early intervention for people who are at high risk for developing PTSD.}, address = {School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia. R.Bryant@unsw.edu.au}, author = {Bryant, R. A. and Mastrodomenico, J. and Felmingham, K. L. and Hopwood, S. and Kenny, L. and Kandris, E. and Cahill, C. and Creamer, M. }, citeulike-article-id = {2873893}, comment = {Science Daily commentary: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080602160842.htm}, doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.65.6.659}, issn = {1538-3636}, journal = {Archives of general psychiatry}, keywords = {exposure-therapy, ptsd, unprinted}, month = {June}, number = {6}, pages = {659--667}, posted-at = {2008-06-08 20:28:45}, priority = {5}, title = {Treatment of acute stress disorder: a randomized controlled trial.}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.65.6.659}, volume = {65}, year = {2008} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:2873893 L3 - citeulike-article-id:2873893 TI - Treatment of acute stress disorder: a randomized controlled trial. JF - Archives of general psychiatry VL - 65 IS - 6 SP - 659 EP - 667 AD - School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia. R.Bryant@unsw.edu.au SN - 1538-3636 N2 - CONTEXT: Recent trauma survivors with acute stress disorder (ASD) are likely to subsequently develop chronic posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Cognitive behavioral therapy for ASD may prevent PTSD, but trauma survivors may not tolerate exposure-based therapy in the acute phase. There is a need to compare nonexposure therapy techniques with prolonged exposure for ASD. OBJECTIVE: To determine the efficacy of exposure therapy or trauma-focused cognitive restructuring in preventing chronic PTSD relative to a wait-list control group. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A randomized controlled trial of civilians who experienced trauma and who met the diagnostic criteria for ASD (N = 90) seen at an outpatient clinic between March 1, 2002, and June 30, 2006. INTERVENTION: Patients were randomly assigned to receive 5 weekly 90-minute sessions of either imaginal and in vivo exposure (n = 30) or cognitive restructuring (n = 30), or assessment at baseline and after 6 weeks (wait-list group; n = 30). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Measures of PTSD at the 6-month follow-up visit by clinical interview and self-report assessments of PTSD, depression, anxiety, and trauma-related cognition. RESULTS: Intent-to-treat analyses indicated that at posttreatment, fewer patients in the exposure group had PTSD than those in the cognitive restructuring or wait-list groups (33% vs 63% vs 77%; P = .002). At follow-up, patients who underwent exposure therapy were more likely to not meet diagnostic criteria for PTSD than those who underwent cognitive restructuring (37% vs 63%; odds ratio, 2.10; 95% confidence interval, 1.12-3.94; P = .05) and to achieve full remission (47% vs 13%; odds ratio, 2.78; 95% confidence interval, 1.14-6.83; P = .005). On assessments of PTSD, depression, and anxiety, exposure resulted in markedly larger effect sizes at posttreatment and follow-up than cognitive restructuring. CONCLUSIONS: Exposure-based therapy leads to greater reduction in subsequent PTSD symptoms in patients with ASD when compared with cognitive restructuring. Exposure should be used in early intervention for people who are at high risk for developing PTSD. KW - exposure-therapy KW - ptsd KW - unprinted N1 - Science Daily commentary: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080602160842.htm AU - Bryant, RA AU - Mastrodomenico, J AU - Felmingham, KL AU - Hopwood, S AU - Kenny, L AU - Kandris, E AU - Cahill, C AU - Creamer, M PY - 2008/06// UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.65.6.659 ER -