Posttraumatic cognitions and PTSD symptom change in massed prolonged exposure: The impact of treatment delivery on mechanisms of change.

BACKGROUND

Prolonged Exposure (PE) is an effective treatment for PTSD and clarification of mechanisms of change can inform training and continued improvements. Posttraumatic cognitions have been shown to predict subsequent symptom change in PTSD treatment. The objective of the current study was to examine how cognitions related to symptom change in massed-delivered PE.

METHODS

The current study used cross-lagged regression analyses to examine the relationship between change in posttraumatic cognitions and PTSD and depression severity in a two-week massed PE program for Veterans with PTSD.

RESULTS

Results showed that PTSD symptom change predicted subsequent posttraumatic cognition change but posttraumatic cognition change did not predict subsequent PTSD symptom change. Depression severity and posttraumatic cognition change showed a reciprocal relationship where both predicted subsequent change in the other.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that when PE is delivered in a massed format, rapid PTSD symptom change may occur through different mechanisms of change compared to weekly delivered PE.