title: Factors related to clinician attitudes toward prolonged exposure therapy for PTSD.
abstract: This study examines pretraining attitudes toward prolonged exposure (PE) therapy in a sample of 1,275 mental health clinicians enrolled in a national PE training program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Attitudes assessed via survey included values placed on outcomes targeted by PE, outcome expectancies (positive expectancies for patient improvement and negative expectancies related to patient deterioration, clinician time burden, and clinician emotional burden), and self-efficacy for delivering PE. Results indicated that clinicians were receptive to learning PE and had positive expectations about the treatment, but expressed concerns that PE might increase patient distress. Responses varied by clinician characteristics with psychologists, clinicians working in specialty PTSD treatment settings (as opposed to those in mental health clinics and other clinic types), and those with a primarily cognitive-behavioral orientation expressing attitudes that were most supportive of learning and implementing PE across various indicators. Implications for addressing attitudinal barriers to implementation of PE therapy are discussed.
authors.affiliation: National Center for PTSD, Dissemination and Training Division, VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Menlo Park, California, USA.
authors.forename: Josef I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Ruzek
authors.forename: Afsoon
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Eftekhari
authors.forename: Craig S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Rosen
authors.forename: Jill J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Crowley
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kuhn
authors.forename: Edna B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Foa
authors.forename: Elizabeth A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Hembree
authors.forename: Bradley E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Karlin
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002983:Clinical Competence; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; D005260:Female; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007171:Implosive Therapy / Q000193:education; D008297:Male; D008605:Mental Health Services; D011584:Psychology / Q000193:education; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012947:Social Work / Q000193:education; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000628:therapy*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014481:United States; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs; D016526:Workload