Effectiveness of massed cognitive processing therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder: A retrospective analysis

Area of Science:

• Mental Health
• Clinical Psychology
• Telemedicine

Background:

• Trauma exposure frequently leads to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), impacting individuals and society.
• Access to evidence-based treatments like cognitive processing therapy (CPT) for PTSD is often limited.
• Accelerated (massed) telehealth delivery of CPT may enhance accessibility and maintain treatment efficacy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate symptom changes in PTSD, anxiety, and depression during virtual massed CPT.
• To assess the durability of treatment gains at 30 and 90 days post-discharge.

Main Methods:

• Adult patients (N=148) with clinician-diagnosed PTSD received virtual massed CPT (≥3 telehealth sessions/week).
• Symptoms were assessed at intake, discharge, and 30/90 days post-discharge.
• Paired t tests and linear mixed-effects models analyzed symptom changes and trajectories.

Main Results:

• Significant large effect size improvements were observed from intake to discharge for PTSD (d = 2.94), anxiety (d = 1.79), and depression (d = 1.49).
• PTSD and depression symptom reductions were maintained at 30 and 90 days.
• Anxiety symptoms remained improved from baseline but showed a slight increase between 30 and 90 days.

Conclusions:

• Virtual massed CPT demonstrated rapid, significant, and durable reductions in PTSD, depression, and anxiety symptoms.
• This telehealth approach is a feasible method for expanding access to evidence-based PTSD care in community settings.