The Impact of Group-Based Exposure Therapy on the PTSD and Depression of 30 Combat Veterans

Thirty combat veterans with chronic posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) completed group-based exposure therapy (GBET) in three cohorts of 10 within a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care system (VA) outpatient program. GBET cohorts met twice a week, 3 hr per day, for 16 weeks. Participants made two within-group combat-related presentations and were asked to listen to recordings of these at least 10 times. The PTSD Checklist (PCL) and Beck Depression Inventory 2 (BDI-2) were administered at pretreatment, posttreatment, and 7-11-month follow-up. PTSD symptoms were significantly lower on both posttreatment assessments with a large effect size (d = .89). Moderate effects were found on depressive symptoms (d = .70) at follow-up. At follow-up, 73% of participants endorsed reliable reductions on either the PCL (<7), the BDI-2 (<8), or both. Moreover, 36% no longer met the criteria for PTSD on the PCL (<= 50) at follow-up. There was relatively high compliance with participants reporting completion of almost all assignments. A higher "dose" of reported listening to recordings of war-related presentations seems to reduce PCLs at follow-up.