Trauma History and Course of Therapy in a Naturalistic Cognitive
Behavior Therapy Outpatient Sample: An Archive Data Study
Abstract
Objective: Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) is an effective treatment
for anxiety and depression disorders. Nonetheless, nearly 50% of all
patients do not respond. Besides other factors, this seems to be linked
to the experience of traumatic life events. This study aims to assess
the effects of trauma history on the choice of therapy interventions and
treatment outcomes. Methods: We analyzed data from 340 CBT outpatients
diagnosed with a depression or anxiety disorder and possibly a trauma
history treated under naturalistic conditions. Based on their written
therapy files, we collected information on trauma history, psychiatric
diagnoses, duration of therapy, applied interventions, and severity of
depression and anxiety symptoms at the start and end of therapy. The
influence of trauma, diagnoses, and intervention use on the development
of depression and anxiety symptoms were analyzed. Results: Patients with
a trauma history reported higher overall depression and anxiety symptoms
than those without trauma. No differences in the duration of therapy,
applied interventions, or decrease in symptom severity were found
between patients with and without a trauma history. Trauma-specific
interventions failed to boost treatment success; however, they were also
seldom applied. Conclusion: Although no differences between traumatized
and non-traumatized patients were found for naturalistic CBT,
traumatized patients maintained higher levels of symptom severity
irrespective of diagnoses. These results indicate a need for more
trauma-specific and personalized interventions. Therapists may need
evidence-based guidelines to personalize CBT for patients with a trauma
history and high symptom severity.