Psychological therapy for children with PTSD: impact on parents’ own post-traumatic stress symptoms and other mental health outcomes.

Hammond, Laura (2020) Psychological therapy for children with PTSD: impact on parents’ own post-traumatic stress symptoms and other mental health outcomes. Doctoral thesis, University of East Anglia.

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Abstract

Context: Parents of children with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are recommended to be included in their child’s treatment as they are considered integral to the child’s recovery. Studies have found an association between child PTSD and parent PTSD and depression, making it likely that parents are experiencing their own mental health difficulties alongside their child’s. However, little work has been conducted exploring the impact of child PTSD therapy on parental mental health.

Aim: This research portfolio aimed to investigate whether parents’ own mental health improves as a result of their child receiving a psychological intervention for PTSD.

Design: The project is presented in a thesis portfolio format combining two main research papers: a systematic review with meta-analysis and a quantitative empirical paper. The systematic review searched the existing literature for studies measuring parent depression and PTSD and investigated whether these parent mental health outcomes improved as a result of their child receiving Trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (TF-BT) or Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) for PTSD. The empirical paper investigated whether parents reported any improvements in PTSD, depression, anxiety or general mental health following the child receiving Cognitive Therapy for PTSD (CT-PTSD) in the early stages following a trauma.

Results: The systematic review identified some tentative, preliminary evidence for the effectiveness of trauma-focused psychological interventions at reducing parent PTSD, emotional reactions and depression. The empirical paper found preliminary evidence for the effectiveness of CT-PTSD delivered to the child at reducing parent PTSD, depression, anxiety and general mental health.

Conclusion: The findings provide preliminary evidence that parents’ own mental health outcomes improve following their child receiving a psychological intervention for PTSD. Further research is required to explore which parents are likely to benefit and why.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Norwich Medical School
Depositing User:	Chris White
Date Deposited:	04 Nov 2020 14:49
Last Modified:	04 Nov 2020 14:49
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/77538
DOI:

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