A Multidimensional Meta-Analysis of Psychotherapy for PTSD

The authors present a multidimensional meta-analysis of studies published between 1980 and 2003 on psychotherapy for PTSD. METHOD: Data on variables not previously meta-analyzed such as inclusion and exclusion criteria and rates, recovery and improvement rates, and follow-up data were examined.

Results suggest that psychotherapy for PTSD leads to a large initial improvement from baseline. More than half of patients who complete treatment with various forms of cognitive behavior therapy or eye movement desensitization and reprocessing improve. Reporting of metrics other than effect size provides a somewhat more nuanced account of outcome and generalizability.