TY - JOUR
T1 - Combat-related guilt and the mechanisms of exposure therapy
AU - Trachik, Benjamin
AU - Bowers, Clint
AU - Neer, Sandra M.
AU - Nguyen, Vu
AU - Frueh, B. Christopher
AU - Beidel, Deborah C.
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported by the U.S. Army Medical Research & Materiel Command-Military Operational Medicine Research Program (USAMRMC-MOMRP; contract W81XWH-11-2-0038 ) to the fifth and sixth author. The study had both MRCM HRPO and local IRB approval and does not necessarily reflect the policy/position of the government. The funding source had no involvement with the design, collection, analysis or interpretation of the data, or the writing of the report or the decision to submit the article for publication.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017
Copyright:
Copyright 2019 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2018/3
Y1 - 2018/3
N2 - Exposure therapy (EXP) is one of the most widely used and empirically supported treatments for PTSD; however, some researchers have questioned its efficacy with specific populations and in targeting specific symptoms. One such symptom, guilt, has garnered increased attention in the PTSD treatment literature, as it is associated with worse symptomatology and outcomes. The current study examined cognitive changes in guilt in response to Intensive (3-week) and Standard (17-week) Trauma Management Therapy (TMT), and the potential mechanisms underlying TMT treatment. TMT is an exposure based intervention that does not include an emotional processing component after the imaginal exposure session. A portion of the sample completed measures of guilt. As a result, sample size for these analyses ranged from 39 to 102 and varied by the domain and measure. Of the 102 individuals that completed the PTSD Checklist- Military Version, 42 completed the Trauma Related Guilt Inventory, and 39 completed the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale supplemental guilt items. Participants reported significant reductions in trauma-related guilt symptoms over the course of the TMT interventions. Greater reductions in avoidance and prior session general arousal predicted the reduction of guilt symptoms. Exposure therapy may be effective in reducing trauma-related guilt even in the absence of the emotional processing component of treatment.
AB - Exposure therapy (EXP) is one of the most widely used and empirically supported treatments for PTSD; however, some researchers have questioned its efficacy with specific populations and in targeting specific symptoms. One such symptom, guilt, has garnered increased attention in the PTSD treatment literature, as it is associated with worse symptomatology and outcomes. The current study examined cognitive changes in guilt in response to Intensive (3-week) and Standard (17-week) Trauma Management Therapy (TMT), and the potential mechanisms underlying TMT treatment. TMT is an exposure based intervention that does not include an emotional processing component after the imaginal exposure session. A portion of the sample completed measures of guilt. As a result, sample size for these analyses ranged from 39 to 102 and varied by the domain and measure. Of the 102 individuals that completed the PTSD Checklist- Military Version, 42 completed the Trauma Related Guilt Inventory, and 39 completed the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale supplemental guilt items. Participants reported significant reductions in trauma-related guilt symptoms over the course of the TMT interventions. Greater reductions in avoidance and prior session general arousal predicted the reduction of guilt symptoms. Exposure therapy may be effective in reducing trauma-related guilt even in the absence of the emotional processing component of treatment.
KW - Combat
KW - Emotional processing
KW - Exposure therapy
KW - Guilt
KW - Posttraumatic stress disorder
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U2 - 10.1016/j.brat.2017.11.006
DO - 10.1016/j.brat.2017.11.006
M3 - Article
C2 - 29229376
AN - SCOPUS:85042028259
VL - 102
SP - 68
EP - 77
JO - Behaviour Research and Therapy
JF - Behaviour Research and Therapy
SN - 0005-7967
ER -