EMDR treatment for children with PTSD: results of a randomized controlled trial.
The objective of the study was to examine the efficacy of EMDR treatment for children with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) compared with untreated children in a waiting list control group (WLC) participating in a randomized controlled superiority trial (RCT). Thirty-three 6-16-year-old children with a DSM-IV diagnosis of PTSD were randomly assigned to eight weekly EMDR sessions or the WLC group. The Posttraumatic Stress Symptom Scale for Children (PTSS-C scale) was used in interviews with children to evaluate their symptoms and outcome. Post-treatment scores of the EMDR group were significantly lower than the WLC indicating improvement in total PTSS-C scores, PTSD-related symptom scale, and the subscales re-experiencing and avoidance among subjects in the EMDR group, while untreated children improved in PTSD-non-related symptom scale. The improvement in re-experiencing symptoms proved to be the most significant between-group difference over time. The results of the present exploratory study including a limited number of children with PTSD are encouraging and warrant further controlled studies of larger samples of children suffering from PTSD.
Ahmad
Abdulbaghi
A
Child Center for Trauma and Exposure (Maskrosen), Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Uppsala University Hospital, Sweden. abdulbaghi.ahmad@bupinst.uu.se
Larsson
Bo
B
Sundelin-Wahlsten
Viveka
V
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D002648:Child; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D003887:Desensitization, Psychologic / Q000379:methods; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002666:Psychology, Child; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014850:Waiting Lists