Mediators of change in a condensed online exposure-based intervention provided soon after trauma: insights from a randomised controlled trial

• Published in: European journal of psychotraumatology 2024, Vol.15 (1), p.2430807
• Main Authors: Bragesjö, Maria, Arnberg, Filip K, Andersson, Erik
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Clinical; early intervention; Estr & eacute; exposici & oacute; Female; Humans; Implosive Therapy; Internet; intervenci & oacute; Male; mediaci & oacute; mediation; Middle Aged; n prolongada; n temprana; Post-traumatic stress; prolonged exposure; Psychological Trauma - therapy; s postraum & aacute; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - therapy; tico; trauma; Treatment Outcome
• ISSN: 2000-8066; 2000-8198; 2000-8066
• DOI: 10.1080/20008066.2024.2430807

The active mechanisms of change are unclear in early-provided exposure-based interventions for psychological trauma. This study aimed to address this gap by analysing weekly data from a randomised trial involving a 3-week therapist-guided online intervention based on prolonged exposure compared to a waiting-list control group. The objective was to investigate whether changes in each of the four subscales of the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist, fifth version (PCL-5; i.e. intrusions, avoidance behaviours, negative alternations in cognitions and hyperarousal) during the three-week intervention period mediated subsequent improvements in other post-traumatic stress symptoms at the controlled 1-month follow-up. We included baseline levels of both the mediator and the outcome as well as changes in the outcome from baseline to week 3 as covariates in a mediation model. The results showed that reductions in avoidance during the intervention period mediated reduced symptom levels of intrusions, negative alternations in cognitions, and hyperarousal at week 7 (z-scores of indirect effect estimates = -0.12 to -0.07). No other PCL-5 subscales were found to be mediators of change. The results from this study highlight the importance of addressing avoidance behaviours in online exposure-based interventions provided in the early aftermath of trauma. Sensitivity analysis showed that the mediation effects were sensitive to assumptions related to mediator-outcome confounders, which could be considered a study limitation. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03850639.