Skip to main content
  • 1619 Accesses

Abstract

The diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the prevalence of the condition, and the co-morbidity among youth are covered briefly in this chapter. The cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) interventions with a strong evidence base in the treatment of PTSD in children and adolescents, namely, trauma-focussed CBT (TF-CBT) and prolonged exposure for adolescents (PE-A), and their theoretical frameworks are reviewed. Rational emotive behaviour therapy (REBT) with a unique focus on core beliefs is discussed, and recommendations offered as to the manner that REBT can enhance existing treatments of trauma among youth. A case study provides a practical example of the treatment of an adolescent with PTSD that includes the use of REBT principles.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Alisic, E., Zalta, A. K., Van Wessel, F., Larsen, S. E., Hafstad, G. S., Hassanpour, K., et al. (2014). Rates of post-traumatic stress disorder in trauma-exposed children and adolescents: Meta-analysis. British Journal of Psychiatry, 204(5), 335–340.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Attanayake, V., McKay, R., Joffres, M., Singh, S., Burkle Jr., F., & Mills, E. (2009). Prevalence of mental disorders among children exposed to war: A systematic review of 7920 children. Medicine, Conflict and Survival, 25, 4–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bayer, C. P., Klasen, F., & Adam, H. (2007). Association of trauma and PTSD symptoms with openness to reconciliation and feelings of revenge among former Ugandan and Congolese child soldiers. Journal of the American Medical Association, 298, 555.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bisson, J. I., Ehlers, A., Matthews, R., Pilling, S., Richards, D., & Turner, S. (2007). Psychological treatments for chronic post-traumatic stress disorder. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 190(2), 97–104. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.bp.106.021402

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brent, D. A., Perper, J. A., Moritz, G., Liotus, L., Richardson, D., Canobbio, R., et al. (1995). Posttraumatic stress disorder in peers of adolescent suicide victims: Predisposing factors and phenomenology. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 34, 209–215. https://doi.org/10.1097/00004583-199502000-00016

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, A. C. (primary author), The Work Group on Quality Issues & the AACAP Work Group on Quality Issues (WGQI). (2010). Practice parameters for the assessment and treatment of children and adolescents with posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 49, 414–430.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J. A., & Mannarino, A. P. (2000). Predictors of treatment outcome in sexually abused children. Child Abuse and Neglect, 24(7), 983–391.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J. A., Mannarino, A. P., & Deblinger, E. (2006). Treating trauma and traumatic grief in children and adolescents. New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J. A., Mannarino, A. P., Kliethermes, M., & Murray, L. A. (2012). Trauma-focused CBT for youth with complex trauma. Child Abuse Neglect, 36(6), 528–541. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2012.03.007

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Das-Munshi, J., Lund, C., Mathews, C., Clark, C., Rothon, C., & Stansfeld, S. (2016). Mental health inequalities in adolescents growing up in post-apartheid South Africa: Cross-sectional survey, SHaW study. PLoS One, 11, e0154478. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0154478

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Arellano, M. A., Lyman, D. R., Jobe-Shields, L., George, P., Dougherty, R. H., Daniels, A. S., et al. (2014). Trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy for children and adolescents: Assessing the evidence. Psychiatric Services, 65(5), 591–602. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.201300255

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Derluyn, I., Broekaert, E., Schuyten, G., & De Temmerman, E. (2004). Post-traumatic stress in former Ugandan child soldiers. Lancet, 363, 861.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DiGuiseppe, R. A., Doyle, K. A., Dryden, W., & Backx, W. (2013). A Practitioner’s guide to rational emotive behavior therapy (3rd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Ellis, A. (1994). Reason and emotion in psychotherapy: A comprehensive method to treating human disturbance. Revised and updated. New York: Birch Lane Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Finkelhor, D., & Dziuba-Leatherman, J. (1994). Children as victims of violence: A national survey. Pediatrics, 94(4 Pt 1), 413–420.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Finkelhor, D., Omrod, R., Turner, H., & Hamby, S. L. (2005). The victimization of children and youth: A comprehensive, national survey. Child Maltreatment, 10, 5–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foa, E. B., Asnaami, A., Zang, Y., Capaldi, S., & Yeh, R. (2018). Psychometrics of the child PTSD symptom scale for DSM-5 for trauma exposed children and adolescents. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 47(1), 38–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foa, E. B., Chrestman, K., & Gilboa-Schechtman, E. (2008). Prolonged exposure manual for children and adolescents suffering from PTSD. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foa, E. B., Hembree, S. P., & Rothbaum, B. O. (2007). Treatments that work. In Prolonged exposure therapy for PTSD: Emotional processing of traumatic experiences: Therapist guide. Oxford, UK/New York: Oxford University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Foa, E. B., & Kozak, M. J. (1986). Emotional processing of fear: Exposure to corrective information. Psychological Bulletin, 99, 2–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foa, E. B., McLean, C. P., Capaldi, S., & Rosenfield, D. (2013). Prolonged exposure vs supportive counselling for sexual abuse-related PTSD in adolescent girls: A randomized clinical trial. JAMA, 310(24), 2650–2657. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2013.282829

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foa, E. B., & Riggs, D. S. (1993). Posttraumatic stress disorder in rape victims. In J. Oldham, M. B. Riba, & A. Tasman (Eds.), Annual review of psychiatry (Vol. 12, pp. 273–303). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foa, E. B., & Rothbaum, B. O. (1998). Treating the trauma of rape: Cognitive-behavioral therapy for PTSD. New York: The Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Giaconia, R. M., Reinherz, H. Z., Silverman, A. B., Pakiz, B., Frost, A. K., & Cohen, E. (1995). Traumas and posttraumatic stress disorder in a community population of older adolescents. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 3, 1369–1380. https://doi.org/10.1097/00004583-199510000-00023

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gilboa-Schechtman, E., Foa, E., Shafran, N., Aderka, I. M., Powers, M. B., Rachamim, L., et al. (2010). Prolonged exposure vs dynamic therapy for adolescent PTSD: A pilot randomized controlled trial. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 49(10), 1034–1042. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2010.07.014

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gillies, D., Taylor, F., Gray, C., O’Brien, L., & D’Abrew, N. (2013). Psychological therapies for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder in children and adolescents (review). Evidence-Based Child Health: A Cochrane Review Journal, 8(3), 1004–1116. https://doi.org/10.1002/ebch.1916

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hiller, R. M., Meiser-Stedman, R., Fearon, P., Lobo, S., McKinnon, A., Fraser, A., et al. (2016). Research review: Changes in the prevalence and symptom severity of child posttraumatic stress disorder in the year following trauma – a meta-analytic study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 57, 884–898.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holtzhausen, L., Ross, A., & Perry, R. (2015). Working on trauma: A systematic review of TF-CBT work with child survivors of sexual abuse. Social Work, 52(4). https://doi.org/10.15270/52-2-528

  • Hyland, P., Shevlin, M., Adamson, G., & Boduszek, D. (2014). The organization of irrational beliefs in posttraumatic stress symptomology: Testing the predictions of REBT theory using structural equation modelling. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 70(1), 48–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.istss.org/

  • Jenkins, E. J., & Bell, C. C. (1994). Violence among inner city high school students and post-traumatic stress disorder. In S. Friedman (Ed.), Anxiety disorders in African Americans (pp. 76–88). New York: Springer Publishing Co..

    Google Scholar 

  • Kilpatrick, D. G., Ruggiero, K. J., Acierno, R., Saunders, B. E., Resnick, H. S., & Best, C. L. (2003). Violence and risk of PTSD, major depression, substance abuse/dependence, and comorbidity: Results from the National Survey of Adolescents. Journal of Consulting Clinical Psychology, 71, 692–700.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kovacs, M. (1985). The children’s depression, inventory (CDI). Psychopharmacology Bulletin, 21(4), 995–998.

    Google Scholar 

  • McLaughlin, K. A., Koenen, K. C., Hill, E. D., Petukhova, M., Sampson, N. A., Zaslavsky, A. M., et al. (2013). Trauma exposure and posttraumatic stress disorder in a national sample of adolescents. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 52(8), 815–830.e14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2013.05.011

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meiser-Stedman, R., Shepperd, A., Bryant, R., Samon, K., Yule, W., Dagleish, T., et al. (2009). Development and validation of the child post-traumatic cognitions inventory. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 24, 47–51.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moore, R. H. (1992). Traumatic incident reduction: A cognitive-emotive resolution of the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Clearwater, FL: Institute for Rational-Emotive Therapy.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morina, N., Koerssen, R., & Pollet, T. V. (2016). Interventions for children and adolescents with posttraumatic stress disorder: A meta-analysis of comparative outcome studies. Clinical Psychology Review, 47, 41–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2016.05.006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • NICE. (n.d.). Overview: Post-traumatic stress disorder: Guidance. http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng116

  • Pine, D. S., & Cohen, J. A. (2002). Trauma in children and adolescents: Risk and treatment of psychiatric sequelae. Biological Psychiatry, 51(7), 519–531. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0006-3223(01)01352-x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rauch, S., & Foa, E. (2006). Emotional processing theory (EPT) and exposure therapy for PTSD. Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy, 36, 61–65. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10879-006-9008-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rojas, S. M., Bilsky, S. A., Dutton, C., Badour, C. L., Feldner, M. T., & Leen-Feldner, E. W. (2017). Lifetime histories of PTSD, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts in a nationally representative sample of adolescents: Examining indirect effects via the roles of family and peer social support. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 49, 95–103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rossouw, J., Yadin, E., Alexander, D., Mbanga, I., Jacobs, T., & Seedat, S. (2016). A pilot and feasibility randomised controlled study of Prolonged Exposure Treatment and supportive counselling for post-traumatic stress disorder in adolescents: A third world, task-shifting, community-based sample. Trials, 17(1), 548.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rossouw, J., Yadin, E., Alexander, D., & Seedat, S. (2018). Prolonged exposure therapy and supportive counselling for posttraumatic stress disorder in adolescents: Task-shifting randomised controlled trial. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 213(4), 587–594. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.2018.130

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steinberg, A. M., Brymer, M. J., Decker, K. B., & Pynoos, R. S. (2004). The University of California at Los Angeles post traumatic stress disorder reaction index. Current Psychiatry Reports, 6(2), 96–100.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tomlinson, M., Rudan, I., Saxena, S., Swartz, L., Tsai, A. C., & Patel, V. (2009). Setting priorities for global mental health research. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 87(6), 438–446. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0042-96862009000600012

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • UNICEF. (2014). Press release: 2014 a devastating year for children. https://www.unicef.org/media/media_78058.html. Accessed 8 March 2020.

  • van de Water, T., Rossouw, J., van der Watt, A. S. J., Yadin, E., & Seedat, S. (2018). Adolescents’ experience of stigma when accessing school-based PTSD interventions. Qualitative Health Research, 28(7), 1088–1098.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Warren, R., & Zgourides, G. (1991). Anxiety disorders; a rational-emotive perspective. New York: Pergamon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weinmann, S., & Koesters, M. (2016). Mental health service provision in low and middle-income countries: Recent developments. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 29(4), 270–275. https://doi.org/10.1097/YCO.0000000000000256

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organization. (2013). Guidelines for the management of conditions specifically related to stress. Geneva, Switzerland: WHO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yule W. (1994). Posttraumatic stress disorder (pp. 223–240). New York: Plenum Pres.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Rossouw, J. (2020). REBT-CBT in the Treatment of Trauma Among Children and Adolescents. In: Bernard, M., Terjesen, M.D. (eds) Rational-Emotive and Cognitive-Behavioral Approaches to Child and Adolescent Mental Health: Theory, Practice, Research, Applications. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-53901-6_9

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics