Porque el tiempo no lo cura todo: Eficacia de la terapia cognitivo-conductual centrada en el trauma para el estrés postraumático a muy largo plazo en víctimas de terrorismo

Abstract

One hundred and twenty victims of terrorism who had suffered a terrorist attack an average of 18 years ago and who mainly had posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or posttraumatic stress symptomatology were randomized to a 16-session trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy (TF- CBT) or to a waiting-list control group. No victim who completed treatment had a PTSD diagnosis at posttreatment; these victims showed significantly lower levels of posttraumatic stress symptomatology at posttreatment than at pretreatment, with a large pre-posttreatment difference (d = 1.39), and 78.3% of them showed normal levels of symptomatology at posttreatment. These results were significantly better than those of the control group, with a large treatment-control difference (d = 0.91). TF- CBT is efficacious and is currently the treatment of choice for victims of terrorism who suffer from PTSD or posttraumatic stress symptomatology, even in the very long term, between 6 and 51 years after the terrorist attack.