This is the Medscape Psychiatry Minute. I'm Dr. Peter Yellowlees. Evidence-based treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have not yet been established for adolescents, despite the high prevalence of PTSD in this population. Now a team of investigators[1] from the University of Pennsylvania has conducted a single-blind randomized trial to examine the effects of 14 sessions of counselor-delivered prolonged exposure therapy compared with the same dose of supportive counseling for adolescents with PTSD. The investigators reported that participants demonstrated greater improvement with exposure therapy on the primary outcome measure (PTSD symptom severity), which was assessed by the Child PTSD Symptom Scale-Interview, and on all secondary outcomes, such as depression and global functioning, and that these treatment differences were maintained at 12-month follow-up. It seems clear that in the future, clinicians should increasingly be treating adolescent girls who have sexual abuse-related PTSD with prolonged exposure therapy rather than with supportive counseling. This conclusion has potentially substantial implications which may require many clinicians to review their clinical practices and skills. This article is selected from Medscape Best Evidence.I'm Dr. Peter Yellowlees.
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Cite this: Best Therapy for Sexual Abuse-Related PTSD in Adolescent Girls - Medscape - Mar 12, 2014.
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