Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing for treating psychological disturbances in Taiwanese adolescents who experienced Typhoon Morakot

• Published in: The Kaohsiung journal of medical sciences 2015-07, Vol.31 (7), p.363-369
• Main Authors: Tang, Tze-Chun, Yang, Pinchen, Yen, Cheng-Fang, Liu, Tai-Ling
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Analysis; Anxiety - psychology; Anxiety - therapy; Book publishing; Case-Control Studies; China; Cyclonic Storms; Depression, Mental; Depressive Disorder, Major - psychology; Depressive Disorder, Major - therapy; Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing; Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing; Female; Humans; Internal Medicine; Major depressive disorder; Male; Multivariate Analysis; New York; Post-traumatic stress disorder; Posttraumatic stress disorder; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Risk Factors; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - psychology; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - therapy; Suicide; Suicide - psychology; Taiwan; Teenagers; Typhoons; United States; Youth
• ISSN: 1607-551X; 2410-8650
• DOI: 10.1016/j.kjms.2015.04.013

Abstract In this case–control study, we aimed to assess the intervention effects of four-session eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) on reducing the severity of disaster-related anxiety, general anxiety, and depressive symptoms in Taiwanese adolescents who experienced Typhoon Morakot. A total of 83 adolescents with posttraumatic stress disorder related to Typhoon Morakot, major depressive disorder, or current moderate or high suicide risk after experiencing Typhoon Morakot were allocated to a four-session course of EMDR ( N  = 41) or to treatment as usual (TAU; N  = 42). A multivariate analysis of covariance was performed to examine the effects of EMDR in reducing the severity of disaster-related anxiety, general anxiety, and depressive symptoms in adolescents by using preintervention severity values as covariates. The multivariate analysis of covariance results indicated that the EMDR group exhibited significantly lower preintervention severity values of general anxiety and depression than did the TAU group. In addition, the preintervention severity value of disaster-related anxiety in the EMDR group was lower than that in the TAU group ( p  = 0.05). The results of this study support that EMDR could alleviate general anxiety and depressive symptoms and reduce disaster-related anxiety in adolescents experiencing major traumatic disasters.