Long-term effectiveness of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing in children and adolescents with medically related subthreshold post-traumatic stress disorder: A randomized controlled trial

Long-term effectiveness of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing in children and adolescents with medically related PTSD.

Article Abstract

“Aims: Medical procedures and hospitalizations can be experienced as traumatic and can lead to post-traumatic stress reactions. Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) shows promising results but very few long-term studies have been published. Therefore, our aim was to test the long-term (8 months post-treatment) effectiveness of EMDR in children and adolescents with medically related subthreshold post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Methods and results: Seventy-four children (including 39 with congenital or acquired heart disease) aged 4–15 (M = 9.6 years) with subthreshold PTSD after previous hospitalization were included into a parallel group randomized controlled trial. Participants were randomized to EMDR (n = 37) or care-as-usual (CAU) (n = 37; medical care only). The primary outcome was PTSD symptoms of the child. Secondary outcomes were symptoms of depression and blood–injection–injury (BII) phobia, sleep problems, and health-related quality of life (HrQoL) of the child. Assessments of all outcomes were planned at baseline and 8 weeks and 8 months after the start of EMDR/CAU. We hypothesized that the EMDR group would show significantly more improvements on all outcomes over time. Both groups showed improvements over time on child’s symptoms of PTSD (only parent report), depression, BII phobia, sleep problems, and most HrQoL subscales. GEE analyses showed no significant differences between the EMDR group (nT2 = 33, nT3 = 30) and the CAU group (nT2 = 35, nT3 = 32) on the primary outcome. One superior effect of EMDR over time was found for reducing parent-reported BII phobia of the child.
Conclusion: EMDR did not perform better than CAU in reducing subthreshold PTSD up to 8 months post-treatment in previously hospitalized children. Possible explanations and clinical implications are discussed.”

—Description from publisher

Article Access

Open Access

Meentken, M. F., van der Mheen, M., van Beynum, I. M., Aendekerk, E. W. C., Legerstee, J. S., van der Ende, J., del Canho, R., Lindauer, R. J. L., Hillegers, M. H. J., Helbing, W. A., Moll, H. A., & Utens, E. M. W. J. (2021). Long-term effectiveness of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing in children and adolescents with medically related subthreshold post-traumatic stress disorder: A randomized controlled trial. European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, zvaa006. Open access: https://doi.org/10.1093/eurjcn/zvaa006

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Date
March 8, 2021

Creator(s)
Maya G. Meentken, Malindi van der Mheen, Ingrid M. van Beynum

Contributor(s)
Elisabeth W. C. Aendekerk, Jeroen S. Legerstee, Jan van der Ende, Riwka del Canho, Ramón J. L. Lindauer, Manon H. J. Hillegers, Willem A. Helbing, Henriette A. Moll, Elisabeth M. W. J. Utens

Topics
Medical/Somatic, PTSD

Client Population
Adolescents, Children

Extent
10 pages

Publisher
Oxford University Press

Rights
Copyright © 2021, © The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology.

APA Citation
Meentken, M. F., van der Mheen, M., van Beynum, I. M., Aendekerk, E. W. C., Legerstee, J. S., van der Ende, J., del Canho, R., Lindauer, R. J. L., Hillegers, M. H. J., Helbing, W. A., Moll, H. A., & Utens, E. M. W. J. (2021). Long-term effectiveness of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing in children and adolescents with medically related subthreshold post-traumatic stress disorder: A randomized controlled trial. European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, zvaa006. Open access: https://doi.org/10.1093/eurjcn/zvaa006

Audience
EMDR Therapists, Other Mental Health Professionals

Language
English

Content Type
Article, Peer-Reviewed, RCT

Access Type
External Resource, Open Access

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