Effectiveness of Narrative Exposure Therapy in Treatment of Patients  with Childhood Trauma-Related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: a Single Case Series Design

Patients that suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may respond less well to existing PTSD therapies if their PTSD was caused by childhood trauma. A relatively novel treatment, Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET), has shown promising outcomes for refugee and veteran PTSD patients that suffered from multiple and continuous trauma, as is often the case for those with childhood trauma-related PTSD (CTR-PTSD). We aimed to investigate whether NET could be effective for the treatment of CTR-PTSD. Methods: We followed the treatment trajectories of nine adult CTR-PTSD patients in an outpatient setting. A non-concurrent multiple baseline design was used, with a baseline of 4 weeks before treatment started. Participants responded to weekly online questionnaires that assessed their PTSD symptoms (i.e., the Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale; PDS) and their experienced quality of life (QOL; i.e. the Manchester Short Assessment of quality of life; MANSA). Data were analyzed using visual...Show morePatients that suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may respond less well to existing PTSD therapies if their PTSD was caused by childhood trauma. A relatively novel treatment, Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET), has shown promising outcomes for refugee and veteran PTSD patients that suffered from multiple and continuous trauma, as is often the case for those with childhood trauma-related PTSD (CTR-PTSD). We aimed to investigate whether NET could be effective for the treatment of CTR-PTSD. Methods: We followed the treatment trajectories of nine adult CTR-PTSD patients in an outpatient setting. A non-concurrent multiple baseline design was used, with a baseline of 4 weeks before treatment started. Participants responded to weekly online questionnaires that assessed their PTSD symptoms (i.e., the Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale; PDS) and their experienced quality of life (QOL; i.e. the Manchester Short Assessment of quality of life; MANSA). Data were analyzed using visual inspection and a mixed model analysis. Results: Results revealed no significant reduction of PTSD symptoms during NET treatment, nor an increase in QOL, as compared to baseline. Of the nine participants, one lost her PTSD diagnosis after treatment with NET. During the procedure, several participants dropped out due to medical, practical or unknown reasons. Conclusion: Results of this study indicate that NET is not effective for the treatment of CTR-PTSD, in contrast to previous literature.Show less

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Effectiveness of Narrative Exposure Therapy in Treatment of Patients with Childhood Trauma-Related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: a Single Case Series Design