Treatment of acute posttraumatic stress disorder in rape victims: An experimental study

The aim of this study was to test the comparative effectiveness of two therapeutic modalities of 5 one-hr sessions [(a) cognitive restructuring and specific coping-skills training and (b) progressive relaxation training] in the treatment of acute posttraumatic stress disorder in victims of sexual aggression. The sample consisted of 20 patients selected according to DSM-III-R criteria. A two-group experimental design with repeated measures (pretreatment, posttreatment, and 1-, 3-, 6-, and 12-month follow-up) was used. Most treated patients improved in all measures immediately upon postreatment and in follow-up. There were no differences between the two modalities in the posttreatment. However, in the 12-month follow-up the first group produced superior outcome in PTSD symptoms, but not in other measures. Implications of this study for clinical practice and future research in this field are discussed.