Predicting response to cognitive processing therapy: Does trauma history matter?

Cognitive processing therapy (CPT) has reliably demonstrated efficacy for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for most patients, however, not all patients derive the same benefit from CPT. The aim of the present study is to identify trauma-related variables that predict differential response to CPT in a sample of treatment-seeking veterans in order to improve individual responses to CPT.

The present study evaluated demographic, therapy, and trauma-related variables as possible predictors of variable response to CPT in a sample of 259 treatment-seeking veterans who received treatment in an outpatient clinic.

Nearly 43% of veterans completed group or individual CPT and of completers, 76.1% reported clinically significant improvement in PTSD symptoms. Although most variability in treatment response was attributable to person-level characteristics, no demographic, treatment, or trauma-related variables were associated with change in PTSD symptoms or explained variance in treatment response (all ps > 0.05).

These results suggest that CPT can be effectively implemented in its various forms to a broad range of patients (i.e., male or female, of any age or race, trauma type, or time since traumatic event) when the treatment is completed and applied by a trained provider. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).