Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39916358›Full record

Trial reportJournal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines2025

Early-stage randomised controlled trial of therapist-supported online cognitive therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder in young people.

Patrick Smith, Anke Ehlers, Ewan Carr, David M Clark, Tim Dalgleish, Gordon Forbes, Kimberley Goldsmith, Helena Griffiths, Monica Gupta, Dorothy King and 6 more

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

16 authors.

Patrick SmithDepartment of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
Anke EhlersDepartment of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Ewan CarrDepartment of Biostatistics and Health Informatics, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
David M ClarkDepartment of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Tim DalgleishMedical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Gordon ForbesDepartment of Biostatistics and Health Informatics, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
Kimberley GoldsmithDepartment of Biostatistics and Health Informatics, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
Helena GriffithsDepartment of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
Monica GuptaDepartment of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
Dorothy KingDepartment of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
Sarah MilesDepartment of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
Dominic T PlantDepartment of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
Anne SmithDepartment of Clinical Psychology and Psychological Therapies, Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK.
Jess StewardDepartment of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
William Yule *Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
Richard Meiser-StedmanDepartment of Clinical Psychology and Psychological Therapies, Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-0262-623X

Funding

Medical Research Council MR/P017355/1Medical Research Council SUAG/043 G101400Wellcome Trust
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundEffective face-to-face treatments for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are available, but most young people with PTSD do not receive effective treatment. Therapist-supported online Cognitive Therapy has the potential to improve accessibility of effective treatment. This early-stage trial gathered data on the feasibility, acceptability, and initial signal of clinical efficacy of a novel online Cognitive Therapy program for young people with PTSD.

methodsA two-arm, parallel-groups, single-blind, early-stage feasibility RCT compared online Cognitive Therapy to a waitlList condition. Participants were N = 31 adolescents (12-17 years-old) with a diagnosis of PTSD, randomised in a 1:1 ratio using minimisation. Thresholds for progression to a larger trial were set a priori for recruitment rate, data completeness, and the initial signal of clinical efficacy. The primary clinical outcome was PTSD diagnosis at 16 weeks post-randomisation. Secondary clinical outcomes were continuous measures of PTSD, depression, and anxiety at 16 weeks; and at 38 weeks in the online Cognitive Therapy arm.

resultsAll pre-determined feasibility thresholds for progression to a larger trial were met. We recruited to target at a rate of 1-2 participants/month. No patient dropped out of therapy; 94% of all participants were retained at 16 weeks. At 16-weeks, the intention-to-treat (ITT) effect adjusted odds ratio was 0.20 (95% CI, 0.02, 1.42), indicating that the odds of meeting PTSD caseness after online therapy were 80% lower than after the waitlist (10/16 participants met PTSD caseness after therapy compared to 11/13 after WL). Effect-size estimates for all secondary clinical outcomes were large-moderate; improvements were sustained 38 weeks after online Cognitive Therapy.

conclusionsTherapist-supported online Cognitive Therapy for PTSD is acceptable to young people and has potential for meaningful and sustained clinical effects. A larger trial appears feasible to deliver. Further work is needed to refine the intervention and its delivery and to evaluate it in a larger confirmatory trial.

Indexed as

Cognitive Behavioral TherapyInternet-Based InterventionOutcome Assessment, Health CareStress Disorders, Post-TraumaticAdolescentChildFeasibility StudiesFemaleHumansMaleSingle-Blind Methodadolescencecognitive therapyE‐healthPost‐traumatic stress disorderRandomised Controlled Trial

Identifiers

PMID39916358
PMCPMC12267680

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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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.