Cognitive behavioral treatments for children and adolescents exposed to traumatic events: A meta-analysis examining variables moderating treatment outcomes

Due to the negative impact of trauma exposure, effective treatments are necessary to prevent and improve negative trauma-related outcomes. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is considered an efficacious treatment for children and adolescents exposed to traumatic events. Despite the various meta-analyses that have examined trauma treatments, there is a paucity of research on the moderating variables that may impact treatment outcomes.

This meta-analytic CBT study addressed those limitations by examining the moderating effects of treatment components on outcomes. A search identified 94 CBT studies with 97 relevant effect sizes for children and adolescents exposed to traumatic events. Consistent with prior meta-analytic studies, CBT was shown to be effective for trauma-exposed youth. CBT subtreatments did not produce significantly different results from one another. Moderators shown to significantly impact CBT treatment outcomes for posttraumatic stress symptom were trauma type, Q = 24.09, p = .004, ds = -0.22 to -1.42, and gender, Q = 10.68, p = .005, ds = -0.53 to -1.36, whereas moderators shown to impact treatment outcomes for depression were study design, Q = 10.95, p = .004, ds = -0.26 to -0.50, and treatment setting, Q = 10.98, p = .004, ds = -0.31 to -0.56. The implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed.