title: Gender difference in outcomes following trauma-focused interventions for posttraumatic stress disorder: Systematic review and meta-analysis.
abstract: Currently, there is a lack of evidence on whether women and men respond differently to trauma-focused psychological treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This study was a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine whether gender is associated with response to trauma-focused psychological interventions for PTSD.
  
  
  
  The Cochrane Collaboration systematic review methodology (Higgins & Green, 2011) was used as a guide for this study. Randomized controlled trials comparing trauma-focused interventions for PTSD with comparison conditions were identified in a literature review.
  
  
  
  Forty-eight randomized controlled trials were included in the meta-analysis: 25 had a mixed gender sample, 18 were female only, and 5 were male only. There was evidence that women had greater reductions than men in the primary outcome measure of clinician-rated PTSD symptoms when trauma-focused psychological interventions were compared with any comparison condition at both postintervention and short-term follow-up. This finding was supported by a direct effects meta-analysis of studies that provided data on both females and males.
  
  
  
  The current findings support a gender difference in outcomes following trauma-focused psychological interventions for PTSD. Future research should seek to identify specific factors related to gender that facilitate or inhibit response to these interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record
authors: Phoenix Australia.
authors: Darryl
authors: D
authors: Wade
authors: Phoenix Australia.
authors: Tracey
authors: T
authors: Varker
authors: Phoenix Australia.
authors: Dzenana
authors: D
authors: Kartal
authors: Orygen Youth Health Research Centre.
authors: Sarah
authors: S
authors: Hetrick
authors: Phoenix Australia.
authors: Meaghan
authors: M
authors: O'Donnell
authors: Phoenix Australia.
authors: David
authors: D
authors: Forbes
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012737:Sex Factors; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000628:therapy*