NCJ Number
135596
Journal
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology Volume: 59 Issue: 5 Dated: (October 1991) Pages: 715-723
Date Published
1991
Length
9 pages
Annotation
Rape victims with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were randomly assigned to one of four treatment groups to compare cognitive-behavioral procedures and counseling.
Abstract
The four treatment groups included stress inoculation training (SIT), prolonged exposure (PE), supportive counseling (SC), and wait list control (WL). Subjects included 45 female victims of rape or attempted rape who had been assaulted at least 3 months before participating in the study. Assessments before and after treatment and at followup consisted of clinical interviews conducted by an independent assessor, who was blind to treatment conditions, and self-report questionnaires. Treatments consisted of 9 biweekly, 90-minute individual sessions conducted by a female therapist. Measures of PTSD symptoms, rape-related distress, general anxiety, and depression were administered at pretreatment, posttreatment, and followup at 3.5 months. All treatment conditions produced improvement on all measures immediately posttreatment and at followup. However, SIT produced significantly more improvement on PTSD symptoms than did SC and WL immediately following treatment. At followup, PE produced superior outcomes on PTSD symptoms. The authors suggest that SIT procedures produce immediate relief since they are aimed at anxiety management and are thus more effective in reducing rape-related psychopathology. The implications of study findings and directions for treatment and future research are discussed. 28 references and 4 tables (Author abstract modified)