Addressing the gender gap: Prolonged exposure for PTSD in veterans

As the proportion of women serving in the United States military continues to increase, more female veterans are being treated for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care settings. Prolonged Exposure (PE) therapy is an evidence-based treatment for PTSD and is often used in VA settings. However, only a few studies have investigated the effectiveness of PE specifically for female veterans with appropriate power. Results of these studies have varied, with similar effects between female and male veterans on par with civilian effects, and more recently, better outcomes for female veterans receiving PE compared with male veterans. The current study contextualizes the evidence from those studies and considers new data regarding clinical outcomes pre- and posttreatment for a large (N = 325) sample of male and female veterans treated with PE in a PTSD specialty clinic. Results indicate a large statistically significant decrease in PTSD as measured by PTSD Checklist (PCL) scores for both male and female veterans treated with PE (d = 1.33). No difference in effectiveness and no difference in treatment completion rates were found between male and female veterans. Our findings support the effectiveness of PE for the treatment of PTSD in female as well as male veterans. Results are compared and contrasted to previous findings in the literature taking into account heterogeneity in methodological and ecological factors among the studies. Emphasis is placed on context of care issues to further the empirical conversation regarding meeting the mental health needs of female veterans. (PsycINFO Database Record