Effectiveness of Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Treating PTSD and Co-Occurring Depression: A Meta-Analytic Update of Experimental Studies

The prevalence of co-occurring posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression poses a noteworthy challenge to optimal development and well-being among youth characterized by variations in risk associated with biological and environmental variables. In response, counselors have implemented interventions such as trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) to decrease symptom severity, increase psychosocial functioning, and plan for personal safety. While studies depicting the effectiveness of TF-CBT are present in empirical literature, meta-analytic syntheses accounting for co-occurring depression, moderators of treatment effect, and estimations of prospective outcomes are less represented. Our meta-analysis of 34 studies yielded 68 effect sizes (41 PTSD, 27 Depression) associated with treatment outcomes for 4261 participants supported the presumption of superiority of TF-CBT when compared to no treatment and alternative treatments for PTSD (g = -1.22 and -0.27, respectively) and depression (g = -0.62 and -0.24, respectively) with varied participant and study characteristics moderating treatment effects.