Could Prolonged Exposure Therapy Help Treat PTSD Symptoms in Adolescent Girls?

For adolescent females suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), recent findings suggest that a modified form of prolonged exposure therapy in which patients are able to both revisit and recount aloud their trauma-related thoughts, feelings and situations could prove to be a more successful treatment than PTSD counseling alone in treating those who have been sexually abused.

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania note the importance of this study due to the high prevalence of PTSD in adolescents and that lack of research regarding prolonged exposure therapy. 

"We hypothesized that prolonged exposure therapy could fill this gap and were eager to test its ability to provide benefit for adolescent patients," Edna Foa, PhD, professor of Clinical Psychology in the department of Psychiatry in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, who developed prolonged exposure therapy said, via a press release. 

The six-year study period from 2006 to 2012 examined the benefits of a prolonged exposure program known as prolonged exposure-A (PE-A) that worked to meet the developmental stage of adolescents. This was then compared to a group who received supportive counseling. Sixty-one adolescent girls were involved in the study from the ages of 13-18. All had symptoms of sexual-abuse related PTSD, according to background information from the study. 

Thirty-one of the participants received prolonged exposure-A treatment while the other 30 received supportive counseling, via a single-blind randomized clinical trial. 

Each participant received 14 60-to-90 minute sessions of either therapy in a community mental health setting, with counselors familiar with supportive counseling or those who received PE-A training through a 4-day workshop. 

Study authors checked in on treatments before, during and after the study period, as well as at the three, six and 12-month mark following the study's completion. 

Results showed that patients who received PE-A experienced a greater decline in PTSD and depression severity, as well as an overall improvement in functioning. Finidngs show that these achievements were accomplished throughout the 12-month follow-up period. 

"Another key finding of this research was that prolonged therapy can be administered in a community setting by professionals with no prior training in evidence-based treatments and can have a positive impact on this population," Foa said, via the release.

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More information regarding the study can be found via JAMA.