Effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Among Iranian Children With Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

The present study aimed to compare the effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Eye Movement Desensiti­zation and Reprocessing (EMDR) in reducing PTSD symptoms severity among Iranian children 20 months after the 2008 Qeshm earthquake. This study follows an experimental design with randomized pre-test post-test to control the internal and external validity of the study. In this study, 26 students from 7 to 12 years old who received PTSD diagnosis due to earthquake based on the clinical interview were randomly assigned to CBT, EMDR, and wait-list control groups. All the participants completed UCLA-PTSD DSM-IV Index as pre-test and post-test. The respondents in the treatment groups were also required tocomplete The Youth Client Satisfaction Questionnaire (YCSQ). According to the results of ANCOVA, after participating in 8-12 sessions of psychotherapy, the participants of CBT and EMDR groups showed a significant reduction in overall PTSD symptoms compared to the wait-list group between the pre and the post-intervention. Although in comparison to EMDR, CBT was more effective in reduction of PTSD symptoms, the difference was not statistically significant. Post-treatment therapeutic outcomes were maintained during six weeks follow-up; however, the effects of EMDR were improved during this period. The results also showed no significant difference between the respondents' satisfaction from CBT and EMDR. Both CBT and EMDR appeared to be feasible and acceptable to PTSD children survived from natural disasters.