Safety, feasibility, and efficacy of EMDR Therapy in adults with PTSD and mild intellectual disability or borderline intellectual functioning and mental health problems: A multiple baseline study
EMDR therapy was found to be safe, feasible, and (potentially) efficacious in decreasing PTSD symptoms for adults with MID-BIF.
Article Abstract
“Background: Little is known about the efficacy of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in people with mild intellectual disability or borderline intellectual functioning (MID-BIF).
Aims: To explore the safety, feasibility, and efficacy of EMDR therapy in adults with MID-BIF, PTSD, and comorbid mental health and psycho-social problems.
Methods and procedures: Data were collected from nine participants using a non-concurrent multiple baseline design. PTSD symptoms, level of daily life impairment, and possible adverse effect were measured weekly during baseline, treatment, post-treatment, and at three-month follow-up. Depressive symptoms, general psychopathology, and mental health problems were assessed once in every phase.
Outcomes and results: Participants displayed a significant reduction of PTSD symptoms, and the majority of participants no longer met criteria for DSM-5 PTSD diagnosis after therapy. EMDR therapy appeared to be safe, as no adverse events were reported during the study time frame. Further, participants showed a decrease in depressive symptoms as well as less severe general psychopathology and mental health problems following therapy.
Conclusion: EMDR therapy was found to be safe, feasible, and (potentially) efficacious in decreasing PTSD symptoms, loss of PTSD diagnoses, reduction of level of daily life impairment, and general psychopathology for adults with MID-BIF, suffering from both severe mental health and psycho-social problems.”
—Description from publisher
Article Access
Open Access
Verhagen, I., van der Heijden, R., de Jongh, A., Korzilius, H., Mevissen, L., & Didden, R. (2022). Safety, feasibility, and efficacy of EMDR Therapy in adults with PTSD and mild intellectual disability or borderline intellectual functioning and mental health problems: A multiple baseline study. Journal of Mental Health Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 1-23, 2148791. Open access: https://doi.org/10.1080/19315864.2022.2148791
Date
November 23, 2022
Creator(s)
Inge Verhagen, Renate van der Heijden, Ad de Jongh
Contributor(s)
Hubert Korzilius, Liesbeth Mevissen, Robert Didden
Topics
PTSD
Client Population
Disabilities
Practice & Methods
Efficacy
Extent
23 pages
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Rights
© 2022 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivativesLicense (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction inany medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.
APA Citation
Verhagen, I., van der Heijden, R., de Jongh, A., Korzilius, H., Mevissen, L., & Didden, R. (2022). Safety, feasibility, and efficacy of EMDR Therapy in adults with PTSD and mild intellectual disability or borderline intellectual functioning and mental health problems: A multiple baseline study. Journal of Mental Health Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 1-23, 2148791. Open access: https://doi.org/10.1080/19315864.2022.2148791
Audience
EMDR Therapists, Other Mental Health Professionals
Language
English
Content Type
Article, Peer-Reviewed
Access Type
External Resource, Open Access
Related Resources
