The effectiveness of the unified protocol for transdiagnostic treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety symptoms of earthquake survivors.

BACKGROUND

Natural disasters such as earthquakes could affect large populations, leaving many of the survivors with psychological disorders, namely, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and depression, in which emotion regulation problems play a central role. Studying the effectiveness of the transdiagnostic unified protocol on this group of patients who may have undergone several postearthquake psychological disorders for years could deliver promising results.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

This quasiexperimental study included pretest, post-test, and a 2-month follow-up period, with a control group. The population included all patients with post-traumatic stress disorder in Sarpol-e Zahab city. A sample of 33 people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder was selected through available sampling and randomly assigned to two experimental (11 people) and control groups (22 people). All participants completed Mississippi Scale for Combat-Related PTSD (M-PTSD) for DSM-III, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II), and The Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HARS) in the pretest, post-test, and follow-up (two-month) assessments. The data were analyzed using SPSS-23 one-way analysis of covariance.

RESULTS

Compared to the control group, the patients in the transdiagnostic unified protocol group experienced significant reductions in PTSD symptoms and comorbid depressive and anxiety symptoms (P = 0.01). Furthermore, the effect size in the experimental group was higher than medium.

CONCLUSION

According to the findings, the unified protocol for transdiagnostic treatment had propitious results in alleviating the symptoms of PTSD and comorbid disorders emerging after Sarpol-e Zahab earthquake. Therefore, this intervention could be a potential substitute for the TAU provided by the Ministry of Health.