Outcomes of prolonged exposure therapy for veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder
Abstract
Prolonged Exposure (PE) is an evidenced-based psychotherapy for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that is being disseminated nationally within the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) with promising initial results. Empirical evidence, however, regarding the effectiveness of PE for treatment of PTSD in military veterans is limited. Building on previous treatment outcome research, the current study investigated the effectiveness of PE in a diverse veteran sample. One-hundred fifteen veterans were enrolled in PE at an urban VA medical center and its surrounding outpatient clinics. PTSD and depression symptoms as well as quality of life were measured before and after treatment. Several baseline patient characteristics were examined as predictors of treatment response. Eighty-four participants completed treatment. Participants experienced a 42% reduction in PTSD symptoms, a 31% reduction in depression symptoms, and an increase in quality of life following PE. Veterans not prescribed psychotropic medication reported greater PTSD symptom reduction than veterans prescribed such medication. The implications of these results for treatment programs targeting PTSD in veterans are discussed.
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A substantial proportion of patients maintain clinically significant residual symptoms and/or continue to meet diagnostic criteria for PTSD following PE.
“a substantial proportion of patients maintain clinically significant residual symptoms and/or continue to meet diagnostic criteria for PTSD following PE (Bradley et al., 2005; Goodson et al., 2013).”
From Augmenting Prolonged Exposure therapy for PTSD with intranasal oxytocin: a randomized, placebo-controlled pilot trial (2018) · cites this paper as Goodson et al., 2013
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- Authors
- Goodson, J. T., Lefkowitz, C. M., Helstrom, A. W., & Gawrysiak, M. J.
- Affiliations
- Philadelphia VA Medical Center (US)
- Corresponding author
- Goodson, Jason T.
- Venue
- Journal of Traumatic Stress
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2013-08
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 419-425
- ISSN
- 0894-9867 (ISSN-L)
- 1573-6598
- OpenAlex
- W1897337326
- Cited by
- 88
- References
- 38
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 8.52
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Traumatic Stress (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and related disorders
- Keywords
- prolonged exposure therapy, post-traumatic stress disorder, military veterans, treatment outcomes, depressive symptoms, quality of life, predictors of treatment response, psychotropic drugs, Department of Veterans Affairs
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aged, Depression, Female, Humans, Implosive Therapy, Male, Middle Aged, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales, Psychotropic Drugs, Quality of Life, Surveys and Questionnaires, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic, United States, Veterans, Chronic Pain
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