title: Psychotherapy for Military-Related PTSD: A Review of Randomized Clinical Trials.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a disabling psychiatric disorder common among military personnel and veterans. First-line psychotherapies most often recommended for PTSD consist mainly of "trauma-focused" psychotherapies that involve focusing on details of the trauma or associated cognitive and emotional effects.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To examine the effectiveness of psychotherapies for PTSD in military and veteran populations.
  
  
  METHODS
  PubMed, PsycINFO, and PILOTS were searched for randomized clinical trials (RCTs) of individual and group psychotherapies for PTSD in military personnel and veterans, published from January 1980 to March 1, 2015. We also searched reference lists of articles, selected reviews, and meta-analyses. Of 891 publications initially identified, 36 were included.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two trauma-focused therapies, cognitive processing therapy (CPT) and prolonged exposure, have been the most frequently studied psychotherapies for military-related PTSD. Five RCTs of CPT (that included 481 patients) and 4 RCTs of prolonged exposure (that included 402 patients) met inclusion criteria. Focusing on intent-to-treat outcomes, within-group posttreatment effect sizes for CPT and prolonged exposure were large (Cohen d range, 0.78-1.10). CPT and prolonged exposure also outperformed waitlist and treatment-as-usual control conditions. Forty-nine percent to 70% of participants receiving CPT and prolonged exposure attained clinically meaningful symptom improvement (defined as a 10- to 12-point decrease in interviewer-assessed or self-reported symptoms). However, mean posttreatment scores for CPT and prolonged exposure remained at or above clinical criteria for PTSD, and approximately two-thirds of patients receiving CPT or prolonged exposure retained their PTSD diagnosis after treatment (range, 60%-72%). CPT and prolonged exposure were marginally superior compared with non-trauma-focused psychotherapy comparison conditions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In military and veteran populations, trials of the first-line trauma-focused interventions CPT and prolonged exposure have shown clinically meaningful improvements for many patients with PTSD. However, nonresponse rates have been high, many patients continue to have symptoms, and trauma-focused interventions show marginally superior results compared with active control conditions. There is a need for improvement in existing PTSD treatments and for development and testing of novel evidence-based treatments, both trauma-focused and non-trauma-focused.
authors.affiliation: Steven and Alexandra Cohen Veterans Center for Posttraumatic Stress and Traumatic Brain Injury, New York University Langone School of Medicine, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Maria M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Steenkamp
authors.affiliation: VA Boston Healthcare System, Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiological Research and Information Center (MAVERIC), Boston University School of Medicine, Boston.
authors.forename: Brett T
authors.initials: BT
authors.lastname: Litz
authors.affiliation: Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, Maryland.
authors.forename: Charles W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Hoge
authors.affiliation: Steven and Alexandra Cohen Veterans Center for Posttraumatic Stress and Traumatic Brain Injury, New York University Langone School of Medicine, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Charles R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Marmar
mesh_terms: D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007171:Implosive Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D008889:Military Personnel; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000628:therapy*