Efficacy of short-term anxiety-regulating psychotherapy on love trauma syndrome

This study has been conducted to investigate the efficacy of short-term dynamic psychotherapy on Love Trauma Syndrome (LTS) in female students. LTS includes a constellation of intensive signs and symptoms which appear following the breakdown of a romantic relationship after a long time. It interrupts person's function in many areas (academic, social or professional) and leads to maladaptive reactions.

This study was a multiple baseline single-case experimental study. The sample included five cases who were selected based on purposeful sampling procedure. The intervention was conducted based on McCullough's manual for short-term dynamic psychotherapy. In general, the study consisted of three stages including the baseline evaluation, the intervention period, and follow-up. The instruments included the Love Trauma Inventory (LTI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II), Global Assessment Function) GAF) of DSM-IV and Millon Personality Inventory MCMI-II the data were analyzed using the clinical significance method and the recovery percent formula.

All subjects who completed the treatment showed significant improvement in their symptoms including depression and general functioning.

It appears that McCullough's short term anxiety-regulating psychotherapy is effective in treating LTS.