This study assessed the effectiveness of emotion regulation and interpersonal psychotherapies in addressing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in women.
This study used a novel method to assess in vivo outcomes of emotion regulation and interpersonal psychotherapies to address posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in a randomized clinical trial with women (N = 147; ages 18–54; 61% of color; 94% low income) with full (79%) or partial (21%) posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Emotion regulation-focused therapy was associated with reduced PTSD symptoms, dysregulation, and negative affect, and improvement in adaptive self-regulation and positive affect. Interpersonal-focused therapy was associated with reduced PTSD symptoms and dysregulation. Although both therapies were associated with reduced PTSD symptoms, whether this was due to nonspecific factors rather than the treatments per se could not be determined. Participants were assigned to affect regulation or interpersonal therapy, or wait-list, and completed daily self-reports for 2 to 4 weeks at baseline and up to 30 days at posttest. Mixed model regression analyses tested pre-post change on five factor analytically derived aggregated daily self-report scores. Daily self-report data warrant further investigation in psychotherapy research with disorders such as PTSD, in order to assess affective and interpersonal dysregulation and adaptive regulation as they occur in daily life. (Published Abstract Provided)