Brief Narrative Exposure Therapy for Posttraumatic Stress in Iraqi Refugees: A Preliminary Randomized Clinical Trial

May 29, 2014Journal of traumatic stress

Short trauma-focused therapy for PTSD in Iraqi refugees: an initial randomized trial

AI simplified

Circadian Biology on OpenScience ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Abstract

A total of 63 traumatized Iraqi refugees participated in a randomized trial comparing brief narrative exposure therapy (brief NET) to a waitlist control.

Brief NET consisted of 3 individual sessions conducted in Arabic.
Participants showed significant increases in posttraumatic growth (d = 0.83) and well-being (d = 0.54) compared to controls at 4 months.
At 2 months, brief NET resulted in greater reductions in posttraumatic stress (d = -0.48) and depression (d = -0.46) symptoms.
Condition differences in symptom reduction were no longer present at the 4-month follow-up.
The high treatment completion rate (95.1%) and retention (98.4%) indicate strong acceptability of brief NET among participants.

AI simplified

Many Iraqi refugees suffer from posttraumatic stress. Efficient, culturally sensitive interventions are needed, and so we adapted narrative exposure therapy into a brief version (brief NET) and tested its effects in a sample of traumatized Iraqi refugees. Iraqi refugees in the United States reporting elevated posttraumatic stress (N = 63) were randomized to brief NET or waitlist control conditions in a 2:1 ratio; brief NET was 3 sessions, conducted individually, in Arabic. Positive indicators (posttraumatic growth and well-being) and symptoms (posttraumatic stress, depressive, and somatic) were assessed at baseline and 2- and 4-month follow-up. Treatment participation (95.1% completion) and study retention (98.4% provided follow-up data) were very high. Significant condition by time interactions showed that those receiving brief NET had greater posttraumatic growth (d = 0.83) and well-being (d = 0.54) through 4 months than controls. Brief NET reduced symptoms of posttraumatic stress (d = -0.48) and depression (d = -0.46) more, but only at 2 months; symptoms of controls also decreased from 2 to 4 months, eliminating condition differences at 4 months. Three sessions of brief NET increased growth and well-being and led to symptom reduction in highly traumatized Iraqi refugees. This preliminary study suggests that brief NET is both acceptable and potentially efficacious in traumatized Iraqi refugees.

Full Text

Full text is available at the source.

View full text (PDF) ↗View full text ↗

Brief Narrative Exposure Therapy for Posttraumatic Stress in Iraqi Refugees: A Preliminary Randomized Clinical Trial

Abstract

Full Text

You found one interesting study. We’ll send the next 7.

what lands in your inbox each week:

Recent issues from the circadian biology brief