Life satisfaction in people with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Background/AimsThere is limited research on the association between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and life satisfaction in community samples. We set out to investigate levels of life satisfaction and its demographic, trauma related and clinical predictors in a sample of people with PTSD (n ?=? 46).MethodsParticipants completed a battery of standardised self-report measures including Satisfaction with Life Scale, the PTSD Checklist and The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale.ResultsOur results indicated that people with moderately severe PTSD in the community are likely to experience lower levels of life satisfaction compared with those with other psychiatric conditions or those without any diagnoses. Multivariate analysis revealed that marital status and trauma symptoms were the only significant predictors of life satisfaction. In specific, being married and presenting with less severe posttraumatic symptomatology were both significantly associated with higher levels of life satisfaction in people with PTSD.ConclusionsThe strong association between traumatic symptomatology and life satisfaction may indicate that routine assessment for life satisfaction or similar positive constructs in people with PTSD, referred for psychological therapies might be useful. Information on positive psychology constructs may facilitate capitalising on clients' strengths and not just on pathology

A Controlled Comparison of the Effectiveness and Efficiency of Two Psychological Therapies for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing vs. Emotional Freedom Techniques

The present study reports on the first ever controlled comparison between eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) and emotional freedom techniques (EFT) for posttraumatic stress disorder. A total of 46 participants were randomized to either EMDR (n = 23) or EFT (n = 23). The participants were assessed at baseline and then reassessed after an 8-week waiting period. Two further blind assessments were conducted at posttreatment and 3-months follow-up. Overall, the results indicated that both interventions produced significant therapeutic gains at posttreatment and follow-up in an equal number of sessions. Similar treatment effect sizes were observed in both treatment groups. Regarding clinical significant changes, a slightly higher proportion of patients in the EMDR group produced substantial clinical changes compared with the EFT group. Given the speculative nature of the theoretical basis of EFT, a dismantling study on the active ingredients of EFT should be subject to future research