@article{ref1,
title="A systematic review of written exposure therapy for the treatment of posttraumatic stress symptoms",
journal="Psychological trauma: theory, research, practice, and policy",
year="2024",
author="DeJesus, Christopher R. and Trendel, Stephanie L. and Sloan, Denise M.",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="OBJECTIVE: Written exposure therapy (WET) is a brief treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), with an increasing number of studies published over the past several years. The current study conducted a systematic review to evaluate the current state of evidence for WET as a treatment for PTSD symptom severity. <br><br>METHOD: Four databases were searched: PsycInfo, PTSDpubs, MEDLINE, and PubMed. Inclusion criteria included a peer-reviewed study of WET, a PTSD treatment outcome measure at pre- and posttreatment, and full-text available in English. <br><br>RESULTS: Seventeen studies were identified for inclusion, seven of which were randomized controlled trials. Study sample sizes ranged from three to 277, with most studies (88%) examining adults. Five studies used a language translation version of WET, two studies examined a group format, and three studies examined PTSD symptom outcome when WET was delivered via telehealth. Within condition effect sizes for PTSD treatment outcome were moderate to large (d range = 0.48-6.45), and between condition effect sizes were large (d range = 1.05-5.25), except for three studies that included a trauma-focused treatment comparison condition (d range = 0.01-0.31). Dropout rates for WET were generally low, and less when compared with other trauma-focused treatments. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: The published studies indicate that WET is an efficacious and effective treatment for PTSD symptoms across a variety of samples, settings, and counties. Future work in this area should include investigation of the implementation and dissemination of WET. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1942-9681",
doi="10.1037/tra0001659",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/tra0001659"
}