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Emotion Regulation and Interpersonal Group Therapy for Children and Adolescents Witnessing Domestic Violence: A Preliminary Uncontrolled Trial

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Abstract

Around 19% of the patients who turn to childhood mental health centers are witnesses to domestic violence. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of Emotion Regulation and Interpersonal Group Therapy (ERIGT) in a multidisciplinary community program. Specifically, this program addresses domestic violence in reducing post-traumatic and depressive symptoms in children and adolescents who are witnesses to domestic violence. ERIGT was used with 24 patients ranging from 7 to 16 years old. We evaluated at three time points: before treatment, after treatment, and at 3 months following the end of treatment. We observed a reduction in the post-traumatic and depressive symptoms. This was a pilot study carried out with a small sample, but it indicates that ERIGT has the potential to be effective in the treatment of these symptoms.

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Correspondence to Fernando Lacasa.

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All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000. Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.

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All authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Lacasa, F., Álvarez, M., Navarro, MÁ. et al. Emotion Regulation and Interpersonal Group Therapy for Children and Adolescents Witnessing Domestic Violence: A Preliminary Uncontrolled Trial. Journ Child Adol Trauma 11, 269–275 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40653-016-0126-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40653-016-0126-8

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