Confronting disturbing memories of sexual abuse can treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in teen girls, a latest study reveals.
Prolonged exposure therapy, that involves recounting the traumatic situation and feelings, are approved for adults.
Researchers at Penn Medicine found that a modified form of the therapy help adolescent girls with PTSD.
"We hypothesized that prolonged exposure therapy could fill this gap and were eager to test its ability to provide benefit for adolescent patients," said Edna Foa, PhD, professor of Clinical Psychology in the department of Psychiatry in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, who developed prolonged exposure therapy.
For the study that was conducted from 2006 to 2012, the researchers examined 61 adolescent girls, aged between 13 and 18, who had PTSD due to sexual abuse. Of these 31 participants got modified form of prolonged exposure therapy, PE-A, and rest 30 received counselling.
Each participant got 14 separate 60 to 90 minute sessions of either therapy in a community mental health setting, the researchers explained in a press release. The therapists were familiar with supportive counselling but inexperienced in PE-A before the study.
The study results showed that girls who received PE-A showed reduced PTSD symptoms and depression.
"Another key finding of this research was that prolonged therapy can be administered in a community setting by professionals with no prior training in evidence-based treatments and can have a positive impact on this population," Edna Foa, PhD, professor of Clinical Psychology in the department of Psychiatry in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, who developed prolonged exposure therapy, said in a statement.
The findings are published in the journal JAMA.
