Psychological Interventions for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder as a Primary Diagnosis Among Adolescents: A Meta-analysis

The objective of this study was to do a meta-analysis focusing on the efficacy of psychological intervention for the adolescent population and PTSD as a primary outcome variable. An electronic search was conducted on PubMed, Science Direct, PsycINFO, and Cochrane Library databases from January 1, 1990, to March 31, 2023. Original studies and systematic reviews/meta-analyses were segregated. In the first study, 129 meta-analyses (MAs) were screened and 8 MAs were analyzed. In the second study, six RCTs and five non-RCTs exclusively including adolescents with a primary diagnosis of PTSD were analyzed. The MA revealed the average sample size to be 243.33 (SD = 372.94) with 63.98% female participants in RCTs and 153 (SD = 237.17) with 56.99% female participants in non-RCTs. A total of 13 different interventions were analyzed. Cognitive-behavioral intervention had a large effect size of 1.63 for PTSD. Cochrane’s Q test and I2 index revealed considerable heterogeneity among groups. There was no significant difference between RCTs and non-RCTs in the total number and duration of intervention sessions and the duration of each session. However, the average follow-up time points varied significantly between RCTs and non-RCTs. RCTs followed random sequence generation and, hence, had a low risk of selection bias. Although the CBT framework with a focus on trauma and traumatic emotions was at the core of treatment efficacy, the type of trauma was the key consideration. Further studies of treatment efficacy moderated by specific trauma characteristics are required to advance the knowledge base in the treatment of PTSD in adolescents.