Consolidation/reconsolidation therapies for the prevention and treatment of PTSD and re-experiencing: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Open accessAbstract
Translational research highlights the potential of novel 'memory consolidation/reconsolidation therapies' to treat re-experiencing symptoms and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This systematic review and meta-analysis assessed the efficacy of so-called memory consolidation/reconsolidation therapies in randomised controlled trials (RCTs) for prevention and treatment of PTSD and symptoms of re-experiencing in children and adults (PROSPERO: CRD42020171167). RCTs were identified and rated for risk of bias. Available data was pooled to calculate risk ratios (RR) for PTSD prevalence and standardised mean differences (SMD) for PTSD/re-experiencing severity. Twenty-five RCTs met inclusion criteria (16 prevention and nine treatment trials). The methodology of most studies had a significant risk of bias. We found a large effect of reconsolidation interventions in the treatment of PTSD (11 studies, n = 372, SMD: -1.42 (-2.25 to -0.58), and a smaller positive effect of consolidation interventions in the prevention of PTSD (12 studies, n = 2821, RR: 0.67 (0.50 to 0.90). Only three protocols (hydrocortisone for PTSD prevention, Reconsolidation of Traumatic Memories (RTM) for treatment of PTSD symptoms and cognitive task memory interference procedure with memory reactivation (MR) for intrusive memories) were superior to control. There is some emerging evidence of consolidation and reconsolidation therapies in the prevention and treatment of PTSD and intrusive memories specifically. Translational research should strictly adhere to protocols/procedures describing precise reconsolidation conditions (e.g. MR) to both increase the likelihood of positive findings and more confidently interpret negative findings of putative reconsolidation agents.
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A large proportion of the reviews (N=15) reported the distress-related outcomes of interventions employing a variety of psychological strategies including acceptance and commitment therapy, cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT), behavioural therapy, goal setting and self-management strategies.
“A large proportion of the reviews (N=15) reported the distress-related outcomes of interventions employing a variety of psychological strategies including acceptance and commitment therapy, cognitive–behavioural therapy (CBT), behavioural therapy, goal setting and self-management strategies.3444 50 62 6472 75 82”
From Impact of healthcare interventions on distress following acute musculoskeletal/orthopaedic injury: A scoping review of systematic reviews (2024) · cites this paper as [34]
The Discussion (page unavailable) reports PTSD symptom outcomes for RTM, a psychological intervention, so this paper supports the claim that a review reported distress-related outcomes of a psychological strategy. It does not establish the citing paper’s count of 15 reviews or report outcomes for the listed strategies such as acceptance and commitment therapy, goal setting, or self-management. (LLM, conf=0.82)
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- Authors
- Astill Wright, L., Horstmann, L., Holmes, E. A., & Bisson, J. I.
- Affiliations
- Cardiff University (GB)
- Uppsala University (SE)
- Venue
- Translational Psychiatry
- Published
- 2021-09-03
- Volume
- 11
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 453-453
- ISSN
- 2158-3188 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC8417130
- OpenAlex
- W3191562800
- Cited by
- 97
- References
- 66
- Citations by year
- 2026: 19 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 30 · 2022: 13
- FWCI
- 2.06
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Translational Psychiatry (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Explore Bristol Research (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- ORCA Online Research @Cardiff (Cardiff University) (acceptedVersion)
- ePrints Soton (University of Southampton) (submittedVersion)
- Uppsala University Publications (Uppsala University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Bristol Research (University of Bristol) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Wellcome Trust (ISSF3 Clinical Primer)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Keywords
- post-traumatic stress disorder, memory reconsolidation, memory consolidation, re-experiencing symptoms, intrusive memories, PTSD prevention, cortisol, memory reactivation, treatment efficacy
- MeSH terms
- Memory Consolidation, Adult, Child, Humans, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
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