A randomized effectiveness study comparing trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy with therapy as usual for...

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Background:

• Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) has demonstrated efficacy in randomized controlled trials.
• However, research on TF-CBT in community clinics, using therapy as usual (TAU) as a comparator, and outside the United States is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of TF-CBT in community mental health settings compared to TAU.
• To assess TF-CBT's impact on posttraumatic stress, depression, general mental health, functional impairment, and anxiety in traumatized youth.

Main Methods:

• 156 traumatized youth (ages 10-18) were randomly assigned to either TF-CBT or TAU.
• Intent-to-treat analysis using mixed-effects models was employed to analyze the data.

Main Results:

• TF-CBT significantly reduced symptoms of posttraumatic stress, depression, and general mental health issues compared to TAU.
• Youth receiving TF-CBT showed greater improvements in functional impairment.
• Fewer youths in the TF-CBT group were diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder compared to the TAU group.

Conclusions:

• TF-CBT is an effective treatment for traumatized youth in community mental health clinics.
• The findings suggest TF-CBT can be successfully implemented in international settings.