Trial reportJournal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines2017
Cognitive therapy as an early treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder in children and adolescents: a randomized controlled trial addressing preliminary efficacy and mechanisms of action.
Trial report in Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Systematic review and meta-analysis: do best-evidenced trauma-focused interventions for children and young people with PTSD lead to changes in social and interpersonal domains?European journal of psychotraumatology · 2024Pooled it
- Associations between therapist factors and treatment efficacy in randomized controlled trials of trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy for children and youth: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of traumatic stress · 2022Pooled it
- A meta-analysis of dropout from evidence-based psychological treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in children and young people.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2021Pooled it
- Early-stage randomised controlled trial of therapist-supported online cognitive therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder in young people.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2025Trial
- A randomized waitlist-controlled trial of cognitive behavior therapy to improve emotion regulation in children with autism.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2018Trial
- Cost-effectiveness of cognitive therapy as an early intervention for post-traumatic stress disorder in children and adolescents: a trial based evaluation and model.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2018Trial
- Posttraumatic stress disorder from early childhood to late adolescence: a resilience-oriented approach to prevention, diagnosis, and clinical management.Discover mental health · 2026Review
- Psychometric Evaluation of the Turkish Adapted Posttraumatic Safety-Seeking Behaviours Scale (CSBS) and Network Analysis of PTSD Symptoms in Earthquake-Exposed Children and Adolescents.Clinical child psychology and psychiatry · 2026Article
- Effectiveness of early psychotherapeutic interventions for trauma-exposed children and adolescents: insights from a trauma outpatient clinic.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2025Article
- Do Contemplative Practices Promote Trauma Recovery? A Narrative Review from 2018 to 2023.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Psychological therapies for post-traumatic stress disorder in children and adolescents.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025Article
- Do Children With Accidental Gunshot-related Fractures Experience Greater Risk of Mental Illness and Psychiatric Disorders? A Propensity-matched Study.Clinical orthopaedics and related research · 2025Article
- Supporting Children's Mental Health Needs in Disasters.Pediatrics · 2025Review
- Trauma Memory Characteristics and Neurocognitive Performance in Youth Exposed to Single-Event Trauma.Research on child and adolescent psychopathology · 2024Article
- Voice hearing in young people with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following multiple trauma exposure.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2024Article
- Changes in cognitive processes and coping strategies precede changes in symptoms during cognitive therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder.Behaviour research and therapy · 2023Article
- Impact of the 7/14/2016 Nice terrorist attack on pediatric emergency department visits thanks to syndromic surveillance: a descriptive study.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Psychotherapeutic Change Mechanisms and Causal Psychotherapy: Applications to Child Abuse and Trauma.Journal of child & adolescent trauma · 2022Article
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Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundFew efficacious early treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in children and adolescents exist. Previous trials have intervened within the first month post-trauma and focused on secondary prevention of later post-traumatic stress; however, considerable natural recovery may still occur up to 6-months post-trauma. No trials have addressed the early treatment of established PTSD (i.e. 2- to 6-months post-trauma).
methodsTwenty-nine youth (8-17 years) with PTSD (according to age-appropriate DSM-IV or ICD-10 diagnostic criteria) after a single-event trauma in the previous 2-6 months were randomly allocated to Cognitive Therapy for PTSD (CT-PTSD; n = 14) or waiting list (WL; n = 15) for 10 weeks.
resultsSignificantly more participants were free of PTSD after CT-PTSD (71%) than WL (27%) at posttreatment (intent-to-treat, 95% CI for difference .04-.71). CT-PTSD yielded greater improvement on child-report questionnaire measures of PTSD, depression and anxiety; clinician-rated functioning; and parent-reported outcomes. Recovery after CT-PTSD was maintained at 6- and 12-month posttreatment. Beneficial effects of CT-PTSD were mediated through changes in appraisals and safety-seeking behaviours, as predicted by cognitive models of PTSD. CT-PTSD was considered acceptable on the basis of low dropout and high treatment credibility and therapist alliance ratings.
conclusionsThis trial provides preliminary support for the efficacy and acceptability of CT-PTSD as an early treatment for PTSD in youth. Moreover, the trial did not support the extension of 'watchful waiting' into the 2- to 6-month post-trauma window, as significant improvements in the WL arm (particularly in terms of functioning and depression) were not observed. Replication in larger samples is needed, but attention to recruitment issues will be required.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.