Trauma-focused CBT could offer hope for young PTSD sufferers

A specialist form of therapy could offer hope for some of the most vulnerable young PTSD sufferers – according to a University of East Anglia study.

Researchers investigated the effectiveness of trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for treating children who had been through multiple traumas such as abuse, violence or serious accidents.

While this type of therapy is already known to help with PTSD, the new study focused on children who had experienced multiple traumas - a group often considered harder to treat.

The large clinical trial, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), is one of the first of its kind to test this approach in real-world settings.

The research team hope that this therapy could offer a lifeline to some of the most vulnerable young people.

Lead researcher Prof Richard Meiser-Stedman, from UEA's Norwich Medical School, said: "Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a deeply distressing and disabling psychiatric condition.

"Recent research has shown that more than seven per cent of young people in the UK will have developed PTSD at some point by the age of 18. 

"For many young people it may persist for years or even decades if untreated.

"We wanted to find out whether trauma-focused CBT, which concentrates on helping young people make sense of their experiences, could help.

What is trauma focused therapy?

Trauma-focused therapy is a specialised type of psychotherapy designed to help people process and recover from traumatic experiences. It focuses on addressing the impact of trauma on mental, emotional, and behavioral well-being – to help people develop coping mechanisms and a healthier understanding of their experiences.

How the study worked

A total of 120 eight to 17-year-olds took part in the study. These children had all been through multiple traumas and were seeking help through mental health services across the UK.

Half received trauma-focused CBT, while the others received the typical treatment offered at mental health clinics.

Many of the participants also had other significant mental health issues, such as depression or anxiety.

The results showed that while trauma-focused therapy was not dramatically better than standard treatment immediately after therapy, its benefits became clearer over time.

After 11 months, those who received trauma focused therapy showed significantly greater improvements in PTSD symptoms, anxiety, depression, and emotion regulation.

Researchers also noted that very few young people dropped out of the therapy, and there were no serious side effects, even though many participants had complex and severe symptoms.

Effective and safe

Prof Meiser-Stedman said: "These findings are really encouraging. They suggest that trauma focused therapy can be an effective and safe treatment for young people who have gone through more than one trauma, especially when they also have other mental health issues.

It also worked in real-world clinics, not just controlled research settings - so it's likely to help in everyday practice.

We hope our work will influence how PTSD is treated in young people across the UK and beyond, particularly those who've experienced repeated or long-term trauma." 

Prof. Richard Meiser-Stedman, Lead Researcher from UEA's Norwich Medical School

This research was coordinated by the Norwich Clinical Trials Unit.

This research was led by the University of East Anglia and Norwich Clinical Trials Unit in collaboration with Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, King's College London, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, North East London NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, University College London, University of Bath, Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, and MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge.

'A pragmatic randomized controlled trial of cognitive therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder in children and adolescents exposed to multiple traumatic stressors: the DECRYPT trial' is published in the journal World Psychiatry.