Clinical research on behavioral activation as treatment for post‐traumatic stress disorder: A brief review and meta‐analysis

Behavioral activation (BA), an effective treatment for depression, has recently been receiving attention as a possible intervention for PTSD. BA interventions could be particularly useful in treating underserved populations (i.e., individuals with lower socioeconomic status). A literature search was...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Behavioral interventions 2020-04, Vol.35 (2), p.325-335
Main Authors: Flint, Daniel D., Ferrell, Emily L., Engelman, Joel
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
behavioral activation
Clinical significance
Meta-analysis
Post traumatic stress disorder
PTSD
Reviews
Therapeutic applications
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Behavioral activation (BA), an effective treatment for depression, has recently been receiving attention as a possible intervention for PTSD. BA interventions could be particularly useful in treating underserved populations (i.e., individuals with lower socioeconomic status). A literature search was conducted, which identified seven outcome studies that examined the effectiveness of stand‐alone BA treatment for individuals with PTSD. All studies identified for this brief review demonstrated clinically significant reductions in PTSD symptoms using BA as an intervention. A meta‐analysis of these few studies revealed a nonsignificant effect (Cohen's d = 0.713, p = .512) despite reporting an average symptom reduction of 25.8%. Other studies utilizing BA treatment for PTSD do so in tandem with other interventions and were excluded from analysis. This brief review summarizes the literature on the use of BA as a stand‐alone treatment for PTSD and suggests that future research seek to confirm the usefulness of BA as a potential treatment modality for mental health‐care providers treating individuals with PTSD.
ISSN:1072-0847
1099-078X
DOI:10.1002/bin.1712