SynthesisBMC psychiatry2022
The efficacy and acceptability of exposure therapy for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder in children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in BMC psychiatry, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Determinants of Exposure Therapy Implementation in Clinical Practice for the Treatment of Anxiety, OCD, and PTSD: A Systematic Review.Clinical child and family psychology review · 2024Pooled it
- Evaluation of the METRA + intervention on mental health and social functioning in Afghan refugee adolescents in Pakistan: a pilot study.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2026Article
- PTSD symptom changes during Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (TF-CBT) in children and adolescents: a Single-Case Experimental Design study.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2025Article
- DNA methylation as a new frontier in treating fear-related disorders: A need for careful evaluation.World journal of psychiatry · 2025Article
- Hyperpolarization-Activated Channel 1 Modulates Resilience and Susceptibility to Social Avoidance Induced by Witnessing Social Defeat Stress.Biological psychiatry · 2025Article
- DNA methylation regulates the extinction of fear memory.World journal of psychiatry · 2025Article
- Article
- Insights into the nutritional prevention of macular degeneration based on a comparative topic modeling approach.PeerJ. Computer science · 2024Article
- Comparison between Standard Expository Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT-E) and Immersive Virtual Reality CBT (CBT-VR) for Rehabilitation of Patients Affected by Occupational Stress Disorders: Study Protocol.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- The fear that remains: Associations between trauma, related psychopathology, and fear-potentiated startle in youth resettled as refugees.Developmental psychobiology · 2023Article
- Alleviating anxiety and taming trauma: Novel pharmacotherapeutics for anxiety disorders and posttraumatic stress disorder.Neuropharmacology · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPosttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is common among children and adolescents who have experienced traumatic events. Exposure therapy (ET) has been shown to be effective in treating PTSD in adults. However, its efficacy remains uncertain in children and adolescents.
aimsTo evaluate the efficacy and acceptability of ET in children and adolescents with PTSD.
methodWe searched PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane, Web of Science, PsycINFO, CINAHL, ProQuest, LILACS, and international trial registries for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessed ET in children and adolescents (aged ≤18 years) with PTSD up to August 31, 2020. The primary outcomes were efficacy (the endpoint score from PTSD symptom severity rating scales) and acceptability (all-cause discontinuation), secondary outcomes included efficacy at follow-up (score from PTSD scales at the longest point of follow-up), depressive symptoms (end-point score on depressive symptom severity rating scales) and quality of life/social functioning (end-point score on quality of life/social functioning rating scales). This study was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42020150859).
resultA total of 6 RCTs (278 patients) were included. The results showed that ET was statistically more efficacious than control groups (standardized mean differences [SMD]: - 0.47, 95% confidence interval [CI]: - 0.91 to - 0.03). In subgroup analysis, exposure therapy was more efficacious for patients with single type of trauma (SMD: - 1.04, 95%CI: - 1.43 to - 0.65). Patients with an average age of 14 years and older, ET was more effective than the control groups (SMD: - 1.04, 95%CI: - 1.43 to - 0.65), and the intervention using prolonged exposure therapy (PE) (SMD: - 1.04, 95%CI: - 1.43 to - 0.65) was superior than control groups. Results for secondary outcomes of efficacy at follow-up (SMD: - 0.64, 95%CI: - 1.17 to - 0.10) and depressive symptoms (SMD: - 0.58, 95%CI: - 0.93 to - 0.22) were similar to the previous findings for efficacy outcome. No statistically significant effects for acceptability and quality of life/social functioning were found.
conclusionET showed superiority in efficacy at post-treatment/follow-up and depressive symptoms improvement in children and adolescents with PTSD. Patients with single type of trauma may benefit more from ET. And ET is more effective in patients 14 years or older. Moreover, PE could be a better choice.
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Registered trials
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.