Early intervention with eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy to reduce the severity of post-traumatic stress symptoms in recent rape victims: a randomized controlled trial
Background: About 40% of rape victims develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) within three months after the assault. Considering the high personal and societal impact of PTSD, there is an urgent need for early (i.e. within three months after the incident) interventions to reduce post-traumatic...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2021-01-01
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| Series: | European Journal of Psychotraumatology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2021.1943188 |
| _version_ | 1797844508100001792 |
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| author | Milou L. V. Covers Ad de Jongh Rafaële J. C. Huntjens Carlijn de Roos Marcel van den Hout Iva A. E. Bicanic |
| author_facet | Milou L. V. Covers Ad de Jongh Rafaële J. C. Huntjens Carlijn de Roos Marcel van den Hout Iva A. E. Bicanic |
| author_sort | Milou L. V. Covers |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: About 40% of rape victims develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) within three months after the assault. Considering the high personal and societal impact of PTSD, there is an urgent need for early (i.e. within three months after the incident) interventions to reduce post-traumatic stress in victims of rape. Objective: To assess the effectiveness of early intervention with eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy to reduce symptoms of post-traumatic stress, feelings of guilt and shame, sexual dysfunction, and other psychological dysfunction (i.e. general psychopathology, anxiety, depression, and dissociative symptoms) in victims of rape. Method: This randomized controlled trial included 57 victims of rape, who were randomly allocated to either two sessions of EMDR therapy or treatment as usual (‘watchful waiting’) between 14 and 28 days post-rape. Psychological symptoms were assessed at pre-treatment, post-treatment, and 8 and 12 weeks post-rape. Linear mixed models and ANCOVAs were used to analyse differences between conditions over time. Results: Within-group effect sizes of the EMDR condition (d = 0.89 to 1.57) and control condition (d = 0.79 to 1.54) were large, indicating that both conditions were effective. However, EMDR therapy was not found to be more effective than watchful waiting in reducing post-traumatic stress symptoms, general psychopathology, depression, sexual dysfunction, and feelings of guilt and shame. Although EMDR therapy was found to be more effective than watchful waiting in reducing anxiety and dissociative symptoms in the post-treatment assessment, this effect disappeared over time. Conclusions: The findings do not support the notion that early intervention with EMDR therapy in victims of rape is more effective than watchful waiting for the reduction of psychological symptoms, including symptoms of post-traumatic stress. Further research on the effectiveness of early interventions, including watchful waiting, for this specific target group is needed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T17:23:51Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1672f63e315d42ac90a0a0d74f2051e5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2000-8066 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T17:23:51Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Journal of Psychotraumatology |
| spelling | doaj.art-1672f63e315d42ac90a0a0d74f2051e52023-04-18T14:59:10ZengTaylor & Francis GroupEuropean Journal of Psychotraumatology2000-80662021-01-0112110.1080/20008198.2021.19431881943188Early intervention with eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy to reduce the severity of post-traumatic stress symptoms in recent rape victims: a randomized controlled trialMilou L. V. Covers0Ad de Jongh1Rafaële J. C. Huntjens2Carlijn de Roos3Marcel van den Hout4Iva A. E. Bicanic5University Medical Center UtrechtUniversity of Amsterdam and Vrije UniversiteitUniversity of GroningenAmsterdam UMC (Location AMC)University of UtrechtUniversity Medical Center UtrechtBackground: About 40% of rape victims develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) within three months after the assault. Considering the high personal and societal impact of PTSD, there is an urgent need for early (i.e. within three months after the incident) interventions to reduce post-traumatic stress in victims of rape. Objective: To assess the effectiveness of early intervention with eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy to reduce symptoms of post-traumatic stress, feelings of guilt and shame, sexual dysfunction, and other psychological dysfunction (i.e. general psychopathology, anxiety, depression, and dissociative symptoms) in victims of rape. Method: This randomized controlled trial included 57 victims of rape, who were randomly allocated to either two sessions of EMDR therapy or treatment as usual (‘watchful waiting’) between 14 and 28 days post-rape. Psychological symptoms were assessed at pre-treatment, post-treatment, and 8 and 12 weeks post-rape. Linear mixed models and ANCOVAs were used to analyse differences between conditions over time. Results: Within-group effect sizes of the EMDR condition (d = 0.89 to 1.57) and control condition (d = 0.79 to 1.54) were large, indicating that both conditions were effective. However, EMDR therapy was not found to be more effective than watchful waiting in reducing post-traumatic stress symptoms, general psychopathology, depression, sexual dysfunction, and feelings of guilt and shame. Although EMDR therapy was found to be more effective than watchful waiting in reducing anxiety and dissociative symptoms in the post-treatment assessment, this effect disappeared over time. Conclusions: The findings do not support the notion that early intervention with EMDR therapy in victims of rape is more effective than watchful waiting for the reduction of psychological symptoms, including symptoms of post-traumatic stress. Further research on the effectiveness of early interventions, including watchful waiting, for this specific target group is needed.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2021.1943188emdr therapyearly interventionrapesexual assaultptsd |
| spellingShingle | Milou L. V. Covers Ad de Jongh Rafaële J. C. Huntjens Carlijn de Roos Marcel van den Hout Iva A. E. Bicanic Early intervention with eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy to reduce the severity of post-traumatic stress symptoms in recent rape victims: a randomized controlled trial European Journal of Psychotraumatology emdr therapy early intervention rape sexual assault ptsd |
| title | Early intervention with eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy to reduce the severity of post-traumatic stress symptoms in recent rape victims: a randomized controlled trial |
| title_full | Early intervention with eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy to reduce the severity of post-traumatic stress symptoms in recent rape victims: a randomized controlled trial |
| title_fullStr | Early intervention with eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy to reduce the severity of post-traumatic stress symptoms in recent rape victims: a randomized controlled trial |
| title_full_unstemmed | Early intervention with eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy to reduce the severity of post-traumatic stress symptoms in recent rape victims: a randomized controlled trial |
| title_short | Early intervention with eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy to reduce the severity of post-traumatic stress symptoms in recent rape victims: a randomized controlled trial |
| title_sort | early intervention with eye movement desensitization and reprocessing emdr therapy to reduce the severity of post traumatic stress symptoms in recent rape victims a randomized controlled trial |
| topic | emdr therapy early intervention rape sexual assault ptsd |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2021.1943188 |
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