CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 64Posttraumatic Stress Disorder ResearchChild Abuse and TraumaPsychotherapy Techniques and Applications

Imagery Rescripting as a stand-alone treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder related to childhood abuse: A randomized controlled trial

Open access
Raabe, Sandra, Ehring, Thomas, Marquenie, Loes, Arntz, Arnoud, Kindt, Merel·2022·Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry
DOI 10.1016/j.jbtep.2022.101769
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) related to childhood abuse (CA) is associated with high symptom complexity. This study examined the efficacy of Imagery Rescripting (ImRs) as a stand-alone treatment versus a sequenced approach with Skills training in Affective and Interpersonal Regulation (STAIR) followed by ImRs for CA-related PTSD. METHODS: Outpatients of two mental health clinics with CA-related PTSD (N = 61) were randomly assigned to ImRs (16 sessions; n = 21), STAIR/ImRs (8 STAIR-sessions followed by 16 ImRs-sessions; n = 20), or Waitlist (8 weeks; n = 20). Patients of the waitlist condition were also randomized to the two active conditions for comparison of STAIR/ImRs (total n for this condition = 31) and ImRs (total n for this condition = 30) and started treatment after waitlist completion. Assessments took place at pre-treatment, after each treatment phase and at 12-week post-intervention follow-up. PTSD symptoms and diagnosis were primary outcome measures, and depression, emotion regulation and interpersonal functioning were secondary outcomes. RESULTS: ImRs showed greater reduction of PTSD severity (effect sizes [ES] 1.40-1.63) than STAIR (ES, 0.23-0.33) as compared to waitlist. When comparing STAIR/ImRs and ImRs directly, (i.e. including re-randomized Waitlist-patients), PTSD symptoms reduced significantly (within condition ES, 1.64-2.10) and improved further to 12-week follow-up (within-condition ES, 2.33-2.66), with no significant difference between both conditions (between-condition ES, 0.21-0.45). Loss of PTSD diagnosis was achieved by 70% in the ImRs condition and 86% in the STAIR/ImRs condition. LIMITATIONS: The sample size was relatively small. CONCLUSIONS: Results show that ImRs is an effective treatment for CA-related PTSD, whereby the current data do not convincingly show an additive effect of STAIR.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.jbtep.2022.101769

Cites

42 of 43 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • ST and its trauma processing component ImRs are effective for disorders resulting from interpersonal trauma in childhood, including complex PTSD and personality disorders.

    “First, ST as a whole, as well as its trauma processing component, Imagery Rescripting (ImRs), are effective for disorders that result from interpersonal trauma in childhood, including complex PTSD and personality disorders [e.g., (13–17)].”

    From Schema therapy for Dissociative Identity Disorder: a case report (2023) · cites this paper as [15]

    The Abstract and Discussion report that ImRs was effective for PTSD related to childhood abuse. The trial compared ImRs with STAIR followed by ImRs, not schema therapy (ST) as a whole; it did not establish effectiveness for complex PTSD or personality disorders. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Imagery rescripting is a highly effective evidence-based stand-alone trauma processing technique for post-traumatic stress disorder and a range of other disorders.

    “ImRs is an ST technique that is a highly effective evidence-based stand-alone trauma processing technique for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and a range of other disorders (1–5).”

    From Timing of imagery rescripting during schema therapy for borderline personality disorder: the LUCY trial (2023) · cites this paper as [4]

    The Discussion (page unavailable) concludes that imagery rescripting is an effective stand-alone treatment for PTSD related to childhood abuse, and the Introduction reports large effects in other PTSD trauma samples. The paper does not establish stand-alone effectiveness for a range of other disorders; its trial enrolled patients with childhood-abuse-related PTSD. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • A recent RCT showed that trauma treatment (ImRs) in people with PTSD from early childhood trauma is highly effective and can be performed safely without a stabilization phase.

    “Fourthly, a recent RCT (15) investigating the effectiveness of ImRs in people with PTSD as a result of early childhood trauma showed that trauma treatment is highly effective and can be performed safely without a stabilization phase.”

    From Schema therapy for Dissociative Identity Disorder: a case report (2023) · cites this paper as [15]

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Alliger-Horn, C., Zimmermann, P., & Mitte, K. (2015). Comparative effectiveness of IRRT and EMDR in war-traumatized German soldiers [vergleichende wirksamkeit von IRRT und EMDR bei kriegstraumatisierten deutschen soldaten]. Trauma Und Gewalt, 9(3), 204, 2015.
  2. Cloitre, M., Cohen, L. R., & Koenen, K. C. (2006). Treating survivors of childhood abuse: Psychotherapy for the interrupted life. New York, NY, US: Guilford Press.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Raabe, S., Ehring, T., Marquenie, L., Arntz, A., & Kindt, M.
Affiliations
  • University of Amsterdam (NL)
  • Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (DE)
  • Jellinek (NL)
Corresponding author
Raabe, Sandra
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2022-12
Volume
77
Pages
101769
ISSN
0005-7916 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.jbtep.2022.101769
OpenAlex
W4295219478
Cited by
64
References
42
Citations by year
2026: 12 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 2
FWCI
11.42
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Open access LMU (Ludwid Maxmilian's Universitat Munchen) (acceptedVersion)
  • UvA-DARE (University of Amsterdam) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
Universiteit van Amsterdam
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
Keywords
imagery rescripting, post-traumatic stress disorder, childhood abuse, STAIR, emotion regulation, interpersonal functioning, depression, treatment sequencing
MeSH terms
Child, Child Abuse, Humans, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic, Treatment Outcome, Imagery, Psychotherapy

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review