Enhancing Treatment Effectiveness in Acute Stress Disorder

Funded Activity Summary

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the most common psychiatric condition to develop after trauma. Early intervention of PTSD following a trauma is indicated because chronic PTSD can be resistant to treatment. Early intervention is possible because acute stress disorder immediately after a trauma identifies those people who will develop chronic PTSD. Although cognitive behaviour therapy of acute stress disorder can effectively prevent PTSD in many cases, many people do not benefit from this treatment because this treatment involves exposure to distressing memories and emotions, and this contributes to many people dropping out of treatment. This project aims to extend the utility of early intervention following trauma by assessing approaches that can be used by most trauma survivors. The project compares early intervention with either exposure, cognitive therapy, combined exposure and cognitive therapy, or supportive counseling. All therapy will be conducted in the initial four weeks and will comprise 6 sessions. Assessments will be conducted posttreatment, six-months follow-up, and one-year follow-up. The outcomes of this project will have significant public health benefits because they will lead to increased treatment effectiveness for acutely traumatized people, and will markedly reduce the incidence of PTSD in the community.

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 01-01-2002

End Date: 01-01-2003

Funding Scheme: NHMRC Project Grants

Funding Amount: $235,330.00

Funder: National Health and Medical Research Council

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

Vision science

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

There are no SEO codes available for this funding activity

Other Keywords

Acute and chronic anxiety reactions | Anxiety disorder | Anxiety disorders | Clinical psychology | Cognitive behaviour | Mental health | Posttraumatic stress disorder

Related Links