Effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Administered by Videoconference for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Abstract

Telehealth, or health care via videoconferencing, constitutes a clinical option that makes it possible to treat patients remotely. A growing number of studies have demonstrated that telehealth is a feasible and effective method for diagnostic interviews and psychiatric consultations. However, few studies have assessed the effectiveness of psychotherapy given by videoconference. This study examines the effectiveness of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) administered by videoconference for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Forty-eight participants with PTSD were recruited for the study: 16 in the videoconferencing condition and 32 in a control face-to-face condition. Each participant received CBT for 16 to 25 weeks and completed various questionnaires before and after treatment. The results show a significant decline in the frequency and severity of posttraumatic symptoms after treatment in both conditions. A clinical improvement in overall functioning was also observed. No significant difference was observed in the effectiveness of the two therapeutic conditions. The examination of effect sizes supports these results. A number of clinical implications and certain avenues for future research are discussed.

Evolution of Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms and Quality of Life throughout a Cognitive Behavioral Treatment for Workplace Trauma Victims

“…The participants received a manual describing symptoms and therapy, and complete homework. The treatment was composed of three phases: (a) a psychoeducative intervention regarding PTSD symptoms and the teaching of anxiety management strategies (e.g., diaphragmatic breathing) (sessions 1 to 3); (b) exposure to memories of the traumatic event and cognitive restructuring if needed (sessions 4 to 9); and (c) in vivo exposure to trauma-related stimuli and to avoided situations, with cognitive restructuring if necessary (sessions [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] and relapse prevention (session 20). The participants were interviewed five times throughout the course of therapy, delimitating each CBT step: before therapy (T0), after the first three sessions (T1), at the ninth session (T2), at the end of therapy(T3), and 6 months after therapy (T4).…”

“…The efficacy of CBT for PTSD has frequently been demonstrated by the significant reduction of PTSD symptom severity. In the last two decades, several PTSD studies have included a measure as well of QoL as a treatment outcome [11][12][13][14][15]. A recent meta-analysis stated that CBT has a moderately strong effect on QoL for those with anxiety disorders [15].…”

Telepsiquiatría: una revisión sistemática cualitativa

“…Un ECC comparó la efectividad de una terapia de orientación cognitiva conductual de 16 a 25 semanas de duración para el PTSD entregada por videoconferencia versus persona a persona y no encontró diferencias signifi cativas entre las dos modalidades respecto a frecuencia y severidad de los síntomas 33 .…”

Telemedicine for Improved Delivery of Psychosocial Treatments for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

“…Prior to answering questions four through 10 we attempted to determine whether different empirical articles were reporting on the same data set, through examining the articles or contacting the authors. We discovered that 10 of the empirical articles represented five pairs of studies which had overlapping samples (Bouchard et al, 2004 andBouchard et al, 2000;Guay, 2009 andDrouin, 2010;Marrone, Mitchell, Crosby, Wonderlich, &Jollie-Trottier, 2009 andMitchell et al, 2008;. For the articles with overlapping samples, we chose only to include the data from the article with the largest sample size (if one was larger), and thus, included five of these articles.…”