Effectiveness of trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy for Japanese children and adolescents in community settings: A multisite randomized controlled trial
Date
2020
Journal Title
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Publisher
European Journal of Psychotraumatology
Abstract
Background: Trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy (TF-CBT) is an efficacious treatment model for children and adolescents with trauma-related disorders. However, few
studies have been conducted in community settings, and there have been no randomized
controlled trials in Asian countries.
Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of TF-CBT in regular community settings in Japan
through comparison with a waitlist with minimal services control condition.
Method: Thirty Japanese children and adolescents with posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms (22 females, eight males, mean age = 13.90, range = 6–18) were randomly assigned to
12 sessions of TF-CBT or the waitlist control condition. The primary outcome measure was
the Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia score assessed by blinded
evaluators one month later.
Results: The mean number of sessions was 12 (range: 11–13) in the TF-CBT group and 4.87
(range: 3–7) in the control group. Intention to treat analysis showed that the TF-CBT group
achieved significantly greater symptom reduction than did the control group. The effect size
(Cohen’s d) between the TF-CBT and control groups was 0.96 (p =.014) for posttraumatic
symptoms and 1.15 (p =.004) for depressive symptoms. However, the TF-CBT group did not
show better results than the control group with regard to improvements in anxiety symptoms, psychosocial functioning, and behavioural problems.
Conclusions: The findings provided preliminary evidence of the effectiveness of TF-CBT for
treating youth with trauma in community mental health facilities. TF-CBT in the Japanese
context proved identical to the original, demonstrating that it is also suitable for use with
children and adolescents in non-Western settings.
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Keywords
childhood trauma, TF-CBT, caregivers, Trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy, PTSD, International Resources, Japan, research
Citation
Kameoka, S., Tanaka, E., Yamamoto, S., Saito, A., Narisawa, T., Arai, Y., ... & Asukai, N. (2020). Effectiveness of trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy for Japanese children and adolescents in community settings: a multisite randomized controlled trial. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 11(1), 1767987.