Journal of Clinical Psychology
Volume 70, Issue 4, 2014, Pages 376-387

Seven-year follow-up study of symptoms in asylum seekers and refugees with ptsd treated with trauma-focused groups (Article)

Droždek B.* , Kamperman A.M. , Tol W.A. , Knipscheer J.W. , Kleber R.J.
  • a Psychotrauma Centrum Zuid Nederland, Netherlands
  • b O3 Mental Health Care Research, United States
  • c Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, United States
  • d Utrecht University, Netherlands
  • e Utrecht University, Netherlands

Abstract

Objective: To examine sustainability of symptom outcomes of a 1-year phase-based trauma-focused, multimodal, and multicomponent group therapy in a day treatment program for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) over an average period of 7 years. Method: Iranian and Afghan patients (N = 69) were assessed with self-rated symptom checklists for PTSD, anxiety, and depression symptoms before (T1), after (T2), and up to 11 years upon completion of the treatment (T3). A series of mixed model regression analyses was applied to determine the course of the measured symptoms over time. Results: At T2, all symptoms were reduced, but PTSD symptoms showed the strongest reduction. The trend of symptom reduction continued up to 5 years posttreatment and was similar for all the examined symptoms. After 5 years, all symptoms started to worsen, but remained under baseline levels at T3. Conclusions: The applied treatment appears to improve mental health of the studied sample on both the short and longer term. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Author Keywords

Group therapy Asylum seekers Follow-up posttraumatic stress disorder Refugees

Index Keywords

anxiety Netherlands Afghanistan depression refugee Follow-Up Studies follow up human Refugees middle aged Psychotherapy, Group group therapy Aged Time Factors Iran procedures psychotherapy Young Adult Humans psychology Adolescent Treatment Outcome male therapy adult Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic Torture time
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84896715485&doi=10.1002%2fjclp.22035&partnerID=40&md5=f9e2675d5d8aece1da67cc1b2eec699e
DOI: 10.1002/jclp.22035
ISSN: 00219762
Cited by: 11
Original Language: English